Ordinary Time 
Pause
What does it take to trust? Sometimes it’s experience over time; sometimes it’s a deeply moving event that takes place in a single moment.
To believe in God and in Christ revealed through Jesus, it sometimes takes an act of the will and a commitment to remain true to your faith.
Through it all God remains constant—at your side and within your heart. Trust that to be true in these next few quiet moments.
Listen
If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile. You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God.
1 Peter 1:17–21
Think
In the game of football, stance is everything. When it’s time to line up, there’s one way to do it right. The stability of a player’s stance at the line of scrimmage is crucial to their effectiveness in moving the game forward.
Today we’re reminded of the great stability of our God. This fair, holy, redeeming, and giving God is strong enough to believe in and trustworthy enough to put our hope in. In our fallenness and sin, Christ is the only rescue we have from our fickle, vacillating faith.
So rest easy today. We’re on the team of the one whose stance is sure, and who wins in the end.
It’s time to cheer.
John Woods
Pray
Holy God, who is sovereign and righteous, give me faith to trust fully in you, so that my life will rest firmly in you. Amen.
Go
Be true now in what you hold to be trustworthy;
Be honest now also when you are unsure.
In any and every case, Jesus remains
Close and steadfast with an enduring love,
A love that always shows up.
