Lenten Devotion #2

Written for the Hollywood UMC booklet

 

Psalm 25:1-5

Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.

I have never trusted God more fully and resolutely than I have on the two occasions I’ve found myself in the Cedars-Sinai emergency room over the past three years. Sitting there on that plastic gurney, feeling the tape of the needle of the IV press into my arm, listening to the doctors and nurses and support staff literally saving lives all around me, I know that I have to put my trust in God. That He will comfort me and those who love me. That He will be with the medical team who treats me. That He will hold me close and keep me safe.

And in that time He teaches me. He teaches me patience. He teaches me to breathe. To believe. To have faith. To realize that no matter what, it really is going to be okay. He teaches me His paths. He teaches me His way. He has a plan for us. And sometimes it’s not the plan we want. We don’t want to be sick or divorced or sad or unemployed. We don’t want to experience those valleys. But God has other ideas. He is showing us that the only way through it all is His path. His plan.

The Lenten journey is not as happy or brightly colored as the Advent journey. It turns so dark before we get to that Easter morning. But the path, the path is so much more important. For us. For learning about our relationship with God. He is teaching us. And it’s up to us to decide if we’re ready to learn.

Prayer:

Dear Lord,

Show me your path. Take my hand and lead me down it. Stay with me every step of the way. I know we are in this together and I thank you for that. Amen.