Loading more...
Rising Waters
Holy God of Fire, Water, Earth, and Air— In the face of devastating realities of floodwaters Read More
SteveN R. Guthrie | Read Luke 17:5-10
Disciplines is available in a variety of formats: print, digital, and print/digital combo packages. A digital subscription includes access to author bios, the ability to comment, and audio lectio.
Sign Up TodayThe wide-ranging sources of sorrow and human suffering can overwhelm us. We may feel tempted to add tears of self-pity to our long list of tears. Why is life so hard? Why does God call us to travel such a difficult road? It doesn’t seem fair.
We hear a similar...
Lord, keep us from self-pity. Teach us to love, serve, and forgive joyfully and without resentment. Amen.
Moving from the sadness of Lamentations 1 to the thanksgiving prayer of 2 Timothy 1 is to move from total darkness to “the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abol- ished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” Lamentations 1 and Psalm 137 are both painful laments from the vantage point of the exile. Both laments drama- tize the expression of honest pain, which offers to God anger as well as grief. In contrast, the New Testament texts speak of faith. The writer of the epistle delights in Timothy’s heritage of faith, nurtured by mother and grandmother and empowered by divine gifts of love and self-discipline. But it is a heritage that must put itself at risk for the sake of the gospel and not inch in the face of inevitable suffering. The disciples ask Jesus for “more” faith, only to be told that faith cannot be quanti ed.
• Read Lamentations 1:1-6. When have your tears of regret washed away illusion? How do you begin again after repen- tance?
• Read Psalm 137. Recall a time when someone angered you. How did you deal with your anger?
• Read 2 Timothy 1:1-14. The author states that when we shed tears for another person we “testify to our profound connect- edness to others.” When in your life have you shed tears for the suffering of another?
• Read Luke 17:5-10. How do you experience gratitude even as you live with the demands of the Christian life?
Respond by posting a prayer.
"Patience requires us to slow down, pay attention, and see God in the midst of our frustration. When you get impatient, ask God what God would like you to see in that moment." Read More . . .
