Day By Day #28

Day by Day #28

MORNING/MIDDAY OFFICE

Silence and Stillness before God (2 minutes)

Scripture Reading: Luke 22:39–44

Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”

An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

Devotional

Until this point in his earthly life, Jesus had predicted that his calling was to suffer God’s judgment for the sins of humanity by means of an awful death on the cross. But here in Gethsamane he struggles with the horror of drinking this particular cup of suffering. He prays, he wrestles, and then submits to the Father’s will for his life. In doing so, Jesus models the profound surrender required of every believer.

God has a cup of suffering for each of us to drink—our unique, God-given destiny. It involves limits, setbacks, and difficult choices. Henri Nouwen summarizes this experience well:

No two lives are the same. We often compare our lives with those of others, trying to decide whether we are better or worse off, but such comparisons do not help us much. We have to live our life, not someone else’s. We have to hold our own cup. We have to dare to say: “This is my life, the life that is given to me, and it is this life that I have to live, as well as I can. My life is unique. Nobody else will ever live it. I have my own history, my own family, my own body, my own character, my own friends, my own way of thinking, speaking, and acting—yes, I have my own life to live. No one else has the same challenge. I am alone, because I am unique. Many people can help me live my life, but after all is said and done, I have to make my own choices about how to live.”^a

Most of us don’t have a problem with doing God’s will—as long as it doesn’t involve too much pain. The reality, however, is that we all have particular struggles and vulnerabilities that tempt us to stray from the center of God’s will.

Question to Consider

How might today be different if, instead of comparing your life to others or trying to avoid your “cup,” you surrendered yourself to it?

Prayer

Lord, thank you for crafting a unique and unrepeatable life for me to live. Forgive me for how often I have strayed from that path and compared my life to those of others. Fill me with the Holy Spirit, and grant me wisdom, power, and the courage to follow you—even when I am not sure where or how you are leading me. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)

MIDDAY/EVENING OFFICE

Silence and Stillness before God (2 minutes)

Scripture Reading: Daniel 1:3–5, 8

Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility—young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service. . . .

But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.

Devotional

Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian armies, with their gods, conquered Jerusalem and carried off most of the city’s inhabitants as slaves. One of those was a young teenager named Daniel. Cut off from his family, teachers, friends, food, culture, and language, Daniel was brought into the Babylonian court and sent to the best university in the land. There he was forced to study a pagan way of viewing the world—including myths, astrology, sorcery, and magic, all of which were banned in Israel. In an effort to assimilate Daniel, the Babylonians even changed his name. He would now be called Belteshazzar.

The king of Babylon had one simple goal: to eliminate Daniel’s distinctiveness as a God follower and absorb him into the values of their culture. Yet, Daniel resisted the enormous power of Babylon. He remained reflective and prayerful, not leaving the issue of his interior life or his integrity to chance.

While we know little of the specifics, it’s clear that Daniel oriented his entire life around loving God. He renounced certain activities, such as eating the king’s food, and engaged in others, such as daily prayer. Despite the hostile environment in which he found himself, Daniel not only fed himself spiritually, but he kept his integrity and blossomed into an extraordinary man of God.

Question to Consider

In what areas of your life (values, attitudes, activities, lifestyle choices, etc.) might God be calling you to follow Daniel—to resist the values of the culture?

Prayer

Lord, I need vision and courage to approach my relationships like Daniel, especially at work and home. Rather than just passively going along with the crowd, help me to live what I believe—to speak and to act with integrity. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)

^a Henri J. M. Nouwen, Can You Drink the Cup? (Notre Dame, Ind.: Ave Maria, 1996), 28.