It is amazing to realize that 3 years ago today one of my nieces was being married. I think of the vows and promises that are part of the wedding ceremony. There are commitments spoken of remaining faithful in love through good times and hard times (“for better for worse”); in times of blessing and times of need (“for richer for poorer”); when facing illness and when well (“in sickness and in health”). This is a description of unconditional love. These are the promises that are made and kept by those who remain married for years and years. Here I am reminded that God promises to remain faithful to us no matter what. God’s love for us and our experience of God caring for us and providing for us is not just for when the road is smooth and life is easy. If that was the case, it would be a very shallow relationship. We can be confident that God is committed to us for whatever life will bring. I said to my husband recently, “Who knew when we were married that we would be living through a pandemic together”? Certainly, 3 short years ago when my niece was married there was no thought of what we have all lived through in this past year. When having to deal with a pandemic, there are people for whom we are extremely thankful in our households. We have had to adjust to very different ways of doing things and we have had to rely on family and friends to find our way through. We have had to rely on God to accompany us and to help us. This will continue to be the case because indications are that we still have a ways to go with this strange reality. For our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER this week, we can be grateful that God has remained with us and God will remain with us for whatever is ahead that we cannot predict or know. In Isaiah 41:10, we can read God’s promise, God’s commitment to us: So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” This is what we have needed to know and what we will need to know going forward. God’s love for us and God’s care for us is consistent whether we are in good times or hard times; in times of blessing or times of need; facing illness or well. God is completely committed to us and we can express our complete and lasting commitment to Him when we pray together tomorrow, Wednesday, March 3rd at 1 pm. We can pray this following prayer and add our own personal prayers.
Trusting God to hear and to answer our prayers, Pastor Lola
Our God of consistent and lasting love and commitment , we had no idea a year ago at this time, what we would be living through. We recognize that You have been with us and promise to continue to journey close beside us. There have been times when we have felt afraid. There are times when we still feel afraid. Thank You for understanding our fear. We know that we can come to You when we feel afraid and You can replace our fear with trust in You. Thank You that You console us with the assurance that You are with us. You have said that You are with us and we choose to believe this promise. When we feel dismayed by all that is going on around us, we want to hear and know that You are our God. We have needed You to strengthen us and we will keep on needing You to give us strength. Thank You God that You never intended for us to try to manage life in our own very limited capacity. As we are grateful for Your provision of strength for us, we ask for Your strength for others we think of who especially need to receive Your strength. We continue to lift up to You health care workers and support staff. We hold in our prayers those feeling overwhelmed by what is being asked of them in their jobs and in their homes. At a time when we are so ready to breathe a sigh of relief, remind us that this battle is not yet over. We need Your help God to see the spread of this COVID virus completely ended. We pray against selfishness when it comes to the administering of vaccines. We pray that when our wait has ended that we will not forget those who are still waiting. God, You know that we need You to hold us up. Today we are asking for wisdom for when churches will meet again in person. Thank You for ways we have been able to worship and receive inspiration when we have not been able to gather in person. Thank you God for all the ways You have chosen to renew and to strengthen our faith. Thank You that You have been holding us up and we keep looking to You with trust and expectancy. God, it is Your mercy that we do not see the future. We do have understanding that the details of the future are in Your hands. Please hold the future and each of us in Your hands and guide us to remain strong in our commitment to You. We do not want to lose hope or have our faith weaken when troubles come. Instead, we pray that each step would find us depending more on You our God and growing strong in our awareness that You keep your promises to us and enable us to keep our promises to You. For better or for worse God, we belong to you forever and offer You our love and devotion. In Jesus’ name. AMEN.