Wesley Church

People Blessing People

Devotional October 21

The Lord is near to all who call on him,
     to all who call on him in truth.

-Psalm 145:18, NRSV

    In one of my prayer books (if it’s not obvious by now, I have a lot of prayer books — occupational hazard), there’s a prayer specifically for a day like today. That’s right, church… there’s a “Wednesday” prayer.

In the middle of this week,
good Lord, assure me again of your presence
in the midst of life. 
Renew my strength and determination 
to do your will on earth, even as it is done in heaven. 
Save me from self-contentment, 
from a vision that is too narrow. 
Enable me to reachbeyond my parish, into my community;
beyond my community, into every corner
of your anguished world. 
Help me to see even beyond this world
into the vast expanses of your universe, 
created as a sign of your extraordinary love
and of your enduring power. 
This I ask through Christ, 
through whom all things were made, 
in whom all things hold together.
Amen. 
(Laurence Hull Stookey, This Day: A Wesleyan Way of Prayer, 105)

Wow. That’s a lot for a Wednesday. That’s a lot of change for Christ to work in me. Not sure I’m up to it all. This prayer is aspirational for sure… but also perhaps a little overwhelming (depending on what kind of Wednesday I’m having). 

Still, I’m particularly drawn in by the first two lines: 

In the middle of this week, good Lord, 
assure me again of your presence. 

I could repeat those words again and again, not just in the middle of the week, but in the moments of all of life’s middles. 

Perhaps at lunchtime. In the middle of this day, good Lord, assure me again of your presence. 

Or when I wake up, inexplicably, in the middle of the night. In the middle of this night, good Lord, assure me again of your presence. 

Or even at the halfway point of my drive into work. 

In the middle of this commute, good Lord, assure me again of your presence. 
But perhaps in the more emotionally-charged “middles,” too. 
In the middle of this argument, good Lord, assure me again of your presence. 
In the middle of this mess, good Lord, assure me again of your presence. 
In the middle of this tantrum, good Lord, assure me again of your presence.
In the middle of this crisis, good Lord, assure me again of your presence. 
In the middle of this pandemic, good Lord, assure me again of your presence.
(And while you’re at it, Lord… please let us be past the “middle”!)

When you find yourselves stuck in the middle, friends, remember the words of today’s psalm: “The Lord is near to all who call on him.” When you find yourselves stuck in the middle, remember the words of today’s prayer: “In the middle of this _____, good Lord, assure me again of your presence.” When you find yourselves stuck in the middle, remember God’s abiding presence.

Blessings,
Pastor Candy

And remember this, too:

Our God is bigger than coronavirus. 
Our vision is bigger than coronavirus, too. 
We are people blessing people. 
We are Wesley Church.   

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