Journey to the Cross

Pause

Have you ever waited for a day with such expectancy that you could hardly contain your joy? We endure the waiting time, knowing what is to come will overshadow anything that came before.

This kind of longing also shows up in our spiritual lives. During the season of Lent we wait for what we know is coming but is not here yet.

I invite you, as we endure the hard days ahead, to lean into the darkness before the light, sit with the sorrow before the joy, and relish the silence before the trumpets and Alleluias.

Listen

So those who think they are standing need to watch out or else they may fall. No temptation has seized you that isn’t common for people. But God is faithful. He won’t allow you to be tempted beyond your abilities. Instead, with the temptation, God will also supply a way out so that you will be able to endure it.

1 Corinthians 10:12-13

Think

These verses are part of a larger passage of Scripture in which the author, Paul, is helping the people of Corinth to remember Israel’s history as an example from which to learn. Even though God promised the Israelites a better life, Paul reminds us of how easily they turned their back on God. Just like us, the Israelites had trouble trusting. Instead of enduring the difficulties put before them, they just gave in.

But here we are called to remember that God is faithful. When God makes a promise, God will follow through. This text is not about what God will or won’t “give you” in life; rather, it is about the promise that God will bring us through no matter what may come our way. We endure the hard times knowing what God has already done for us — remembering that God is faithful.

What promises have you seen God fulfill? How can these experiences help you to endure the more difficult times?

Katie Gilbert

Pray

Promise-keeper God, help me to trust in you, even in the hard times, remembering the ways that you have brought me through before and that you will bring me through again. Amen.

Go

God is teaching us.
We endure through so much—
through time, through pain,
through joy and sorrow,
sunshine and rain,
And sometimes the boring everyday.

But God is teaching us.
Love remains.
Mercy is wide.
Grace abounds.
The Alleluias are coming…

And God is teaching us.
Inviting all of us on the journey.
Enduring, overcoming,
growing, changing, becoming.