Ordinary Time

Pause

Jesus says to us, “Come to me, all you who are struggling hard and carrying heavy loads and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

What are you carrying that you need to unload?

Imagine that you are holding it in your hands. In your mind, place what you are holding into the strong, scarred hands of Jesus.

Trust that he loves you and wants to carry it for you.

Listen

Why do you say, Jacob, and declare, Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord, my God ignores my predicament”? Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He doesn’t grow tired or weary. His understanding is beyond human reach, giving power to the tired and reviving the exhausted.

Isaiah 40:27-29

Think

As I write this, it’s been almost a year since we first heard of the mystery virus Covid-19. It was early February 2020 when the World Health Organization deemed it a Global Health Emergency. Who knew a year later our world, our nation, and our communities would still be wearing masks and limiting exposure to other people? We are tired – emotionally, physically, and mentally. I’m tired of Zoom meetings and not gathering with friends and loved ones. I’m tired from worrying about loved ones and grieving lives lost.

In today’s verses, the prophet Isaiah offers hope to God’s people, who felt alone and forgotten. Because of their sin, they were in exile in Babylon away from their homeland and their normal way of life. But God, who never grows tired or weary, had not forgotten them. Neither has God forgotten us.

As created beings, we get stressed out and worn down. But the Creator, the everlasting God, does not. God will give us the strength to keep going if we look to God for help.

Stella Perrin

Pray

God, when I am weary and worn out, I turn to you. Catch me in your arms. Let me come to rest in you. Renew my strength so I can keep walking in your way of justice, truth, and love. Amen.

Go

Go, believing in the power of the good news to restore, heal, forgive, and bring peace.

Jesus says: “I have said these things so that you will have peace in me. In the world you have distress. But be encouraged! I have conquered the world.” (John 16:33)