Monday Devotional: February 19, 2024

Bible Reading: Psalm 22:25-31 (NRSVUE)

²⁵ From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will pay before those who fear him. ²⁶ The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord. May your hearts live forever! ²⁷ All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before him. ²⁸ For dominion belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations. ²⁹ To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, and I shall live for him. ³⁰ Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord ³¹ and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has done it.

The aspect I found most terrifying about being a mother to infants was the absolute trust they placed in me. I could have been terrible or wonderful, loving or abusive. On that first day, they loved me just because I was there.

But babies learn quickly whether or not they have trustworthy caregivers. They notice if they will be fed when they are hungry, if they will be kept clean, if they will be picked up and cuddled, and if their bids for connection will be met by loving attention. With every feeding in the wee hours, every sponge bath, every snuggle and smile, I sent messages to my babies. You are loved. You are safe. You can count on me.

I did this imperfectly. But adequate parents teach their children to have faith in them—to ask for what they need, cry when they are hurting, and rejoice when they appear.

The psalmist says, “Those who seek him shall praise the Lord.” Another way to express this might be “Those who cry out to their Parent will find that God is praiseworthy.” Worthy of praise, worthy of trust. Far more than even the most loving human parent and transcending the brokenness we unconsciously imprint on one another, God can be trusted, even by those who sleep in the earth, who have gone into the dust. And once we learn in a hundred small ways that our hunger will be satisfied, that we will be tenderly cleansed, and that the Voice speaking to us out of the loneliest nights is full of love, we will feel free to trust and thereby, live.

Prayer

Loving Parent, help me seek you as unself-consciously as a crying infant, and teach me how trustworthy you are. Amen.

By Elise Erikson Barrett, The Upper Room Disciplines 2015, page 66.

Lenten Bible Study

The Third Day: Living the Resurrection
By Tom Berlin with Mike A. Miller

Session 1: Mary Magdalene
Bible Reading: John 20:1-18

ZOOM Session
Every Monday starting February 19, 2024, from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm.

IN-PERSON Session
Every Wednesday starting February 21, 2024, from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm, Conference Room, McGhee Building.