Listen

Watch what I am about to do to all your oppressors at that time. I will deliver the lame; I will gather the outcast. I will change their shame into praise and fame throughout the earth.

At that time, I will bring all of you back, at the time when I gather you. I will give you fame and praise among all the neighboring peoples when I restore your possessions and you can see them—says the Lord.

Zephaniah 3:19-20

Think

I imagine God walking through the world with a big basket on one hip, picking up broken toys and restoring them to their original beauty and shine – wiping off smudges on this one, gently replacing an arm to its socket on another one. The prophet says God will gather up the outcast and bring all of them back.

God’s deepest desire for you is restoration, healing, and wholeness. In ways that you may not see at this time God is at work throughout the world and in your life, gathering up pieces that will bring a sense of salvation to you. God’s promise is to turn your shame into praise and bring you back to God.

Jon Brown

Pray

Gather up the broken pieces of my life, Lord.

Gather up the things I have lost or forgotten.

Restore me to the heart of your love.

Amen.

Go

“God is closer to me than I am to myself.” (St. Augustine in Confessions)

Rest for a moment, as it were, in the curve of God’s smile.

Rise up, renewed by God’s love.