Prayer Practice
Breath Prayer – Take 2-3
minutes today to pray a simple breath prayer. Get somewhere quiet and relaxing.
Breathe in deeply, and then breathe out fully. As you breathe in, ask God to
fill you with His presence, grace, love, peace, etc. Consider using the list of
spiritual fruit in Galatians 5:22-23. As you breathe out, offer to God the
things you need Him to take from you – sin, doubt, shame, anxiety, fear, etc.
Pray this way for just a few minutes, trusting God to work, and then begin
reading today’s Scripture.
DAILY READING
REFLECTION
Do You Trust Me?
by Mary McGinnis
Picture this familiar scene from an adventure film. It is a vast landscape somewhere out west, in the middle of nowhere. The hero and heroine of the story are being hotly pursued by the “bad guys.” As they flee for their lives, they must leap gapping furrows, and trudge through deep rivers. They climb up steep inclines through rocky pathways, and once at the peak of the summit, the landscape opens wide. They sprint as fast as they can toward the horizon but those who are pursuing them are still close behind.
The hero and heroine keep pushing onward in the hope that they will find a way of escape. Ready to collapse from exhaustion, their hope begins to wane. Soon their promising view on the horizon turn to a dead halt - the edge of a cliff. The cliff overlooks a river some 200 feet below, with jutting rocks lining the sides of the riverbank. Things look utterly hopeless, and their enemy is closing in fast. There is nowhere else to go.
The hero, turns to the heroine and says, “Do you trust me?” She says, “Yes!” He takes her hand, and they jump! This death-defying act lands them safely in the current of the river below, out of danger.
In today’s reading from Luke 21, Jesus quite honestly predicts many terrible things that lay in the disciples’ future, and in ours. Wars and rumors of wars. Nations against nations. Great earthquakes, famines, pestilence, and fearful events. Jesus minces no words. He sugar-coats nothing.
Then it gets personal. He says they will be persecuted, thrown into prison, and charges will be brought against them. They will be betrayed by parents, brothers and sisters, and friends. He brings them to the brink saying, “Some of you will be put to death!” And “You will be hated because of me!”
Jesus predictions are
absolutely certain for them and for us! And it seems that destruction
is inevitable, doom is sure, and evil will win. The events Jesus describes are so devastating, whose heart would not immediately
melt into despair.
Then Jesus, who is the very Word of God, speaks these words:
“And so you will bear testimony to me. But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.”
And as if to say, “Do you trust Me?” Jesus says these remarkable words of hope and promise:
“But not a hair of your head will perish. Stand firm, and you will win life.”
Maybe you have gone through season in your life where everything seemed hopeless. Perhaps you are experiencing a such a time right now. Each of us will encounter hardships, trails, betrayal, loss, pain, and even death itself one day.
Unlike the movies, all these hardships are real. But Jesus takes us by the hand and says, “Do you trust me?”
He is the only One who CAN be trusted completely and explicitly. Unlike any earthy hero, God is 100% worthy of our trust. First, because He is Almighty and able to rescue us. And secondly, because He loves us with an everlasting love, a love that was willing to give His life for us!
Dear Father, when I face times when all seems hopeless, breathe in me Your breath of life that will help me stand firm, knowing that ONLY in YOU do I have life. Help me to hear the whisper of Your voice in my heart that says, “Do you trust me?” Reminds me again and again how completely worthy of my trust You are!
2 comments:
Mary, I love the style of your post this morning. You put so much life onto it and told a story I could put myself into. Very well done. Thank you.
Mary:
Your description reminded me of the Lord of the Rings and the many times there seemed like no chance of executing an exit strategy. Great imagery1 Thank you.
I have often wondered if it might be possible that we are the terminal generation. Imagine-sun no longer shines along with the moon. complete darkness and suddenly Jesus comes with the angelic host. I don't dwell on the timing of the great tribulation only on anticipation of His arrival. That may be at the time of my death or the end of time. I don't care. I just want to see Him and be with all those He has called out of darkness (like me) to live eternally in His care and provision. Exciting, eh?
Thank you for today's blog. I love imaginative people.
Robin Lorms
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