Listen

“Listen, my people, I will now speak; Israel, I will now testify against you. I am God—your God! I’m not punishing you for your sacrifices or for your entirely burned offerings, which are always before me.

“Offer God a sacrifice of thanksgiving! Fulfill the promises you made to the Most High! Cry out to me whenever you are in trouble; I will deliver you, then you will honor me.”

Psalm 50:7-8, 14-15

Think

“Whenever you are in trouble.” Maybe you’re feeling that literally, navigating the consequences of a mistake you made. Maybe it’s more personal, a struggle with loneliness, anxiety, or just trying to figure out who you are. Maybe it’s bigger picture, and you’re noticing broken parts of the structures that organize our lives together. Maybe it’s a little of all three. There are plenty of places that could use some healing these days. God is big enough to be with us in all of them.

But healing stories can be complicated. We want “deliver us” to mean “make things the way they were before,” or “fix this injury or sickness” like some of the scriptures we read this week. Sometimes that’s just not how things turn out, but that does not mean God is not with us. God hears our cries of anger and sadness as much as God hears our celebrations. And we truly honor God when we pray as our whole and honest selves, mixed-up feelings and all.

Allison Wehrung

Pray

Ever-present God, when life feels overwhelming, reassure me with the knowledge that you are with me.

Encourage me to be honest with myself and with you, making room for the many different things I might feel along the way.

Amen.

Go

We come to you, O loving Lord,
in our distress and pain,
in trust that through our nights and days,
your grace will heal, sustain.

Herman G. Stuempfle Jr. in “We Come to You for Healing, Lord” (2013)