After
This fresh set of Daily Devotions is being provided for our LCA/NZ family, friends and visitors to help us to keep our eyes on Jesus as we face unsettling times. They can be used by families and individuals as part of the LCA/NZ’s Church@Home resources to encourage us and build trust in our Heavenly Father during this season of uncertainty and physical isolation.
by Barb Niczynski
Click here for your printable verse to carry with you today.
‘I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith’ (Ephesians 3:16–17).
As we, hopefully soon, take tentative steps towards ‘back to normal’, what will that look like? I hope we won’t be the same people. Have our attitudes to consumables changed? Have our priorities in life changed? How do we view our planet that has had a measure of healing in this lull of activity? Will it be weird hugging people again? Will you actually feel safe? What will you discard as you enter ‘after’, and what will go with you? What is worth picking up again from ‘before’? Have you considered this yet?
And what about your church? Do you want it to be the same as ‘before’ now that you are an ‘after’ person? Are you excited about sharing holy communion in community again? What seeds of change would you like to nourish as a personal calling from God? Are there some congregational changes you would like to see? How do we as congregations discuss the changes wanted or needed, and the changes not wanted or needed? Will our ‘after’ be wonderful, or will it be a mixed bag because we are all mixed bags in various packages of emotions, needs and values?
I pray we will be inquiring people and congregations. I pray that we would individually and corporately seek God’s will in these questions. I pray that we would spend time thinking before speaking, hearing God’s voice in our searching, seeing the needs of others who have struggled and responding in love, and sharing our highs and lows honestly. I pray that we bring the best of ourselves back into the community and share God’s unfathomable grace with each other.
Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit, we ask for your grace and mercy for each one of us. As we continue our journey in ‘during’ for now, tease us with opportunities for the ‘after’, bless us with your visions and plans, give us compassion for others, guide us to help out where we can, and sustain us with your companionship and deep love. You are the best example of community, and you draw each one of us into that community. Help us to share it with others in whatever ways we can that are permissible for now. Amen.
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