Ordinary Time

Pause

There's bound to come some trouble to your life
But that ain't nothing to be afraid of

There's bound to come some trouble to your life
But that ain't no reason to fear

I know there's bound to come some trouble to your life
But reach out to Jesus, hold on tight

He's been there before and He knows what it's like
You'll find He's there

from Rich Mullins, “Bound to Come Some Trouble”

Listen

“Happy are people who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness, because they will be fed until they are full.”

Matthew 5:6

Think

Hunger begins as a subtle feeling in our bodies, but if we’re not fed it grows and eventually it will take over our entire beings. We can’t work, or sleep, or watch TV until we get ourselves something to eat. Perhaps Jesus is telling us that hunger for righteousness works the same way. Initially our eyes are opened, and we just begin to notice the work God is doing in the world — work of healing, restoring, redeeming the earth and the people God loves so dearly.

Just as physical hunger grows over time, so does our longing for the righteousness of God. Like a gnawing hunger, we are not satisfied by substitutes. We become people who are living in the world but not adequately filled by the stuff of the world. Continually hungry for the promises of God to be revealed. Unsatisfied with the status quo. Hungry for God’s righteousness to be made known in every corner of our world.

Amy Bost Henegar

Pray

Dear God, I ask today that you will give me a hunger for your righteousness. That I will long for your kingdom to come, on earth as it is in heaven. Let me not be satisfied by substitutions. Rather, increase my longing for your kingdom and your righteousness. In Jesus’s name I pray, amen.

Go

Go, and know that the Lord goes with you:
let God lead you each day into the quiet place of your heart,
and speak with you;
know that the Lord loves you and watches over you -
that God listens to you in gentle understanding,
and is with you always,
wherever you are and however you may feel:
and may the blessing of God be yours for ever.

Adapted from anonymous prayer in All Will Be Well, ed. Lyn Klug