Good afternoon, friends. I’ve been thinking during this Lenten season about the way our life-situation just seems to change without notice and without our permission. In particular, I’m thinking of how it was on the first Palm Sunday which we will celebrate here in just a few days and how that week in Jesus’ life changed so quickly after that Sunday. One moment all seemed to be going well and the next moment everything turned sour and tragic.
It must have been so confusing for Jesus’ disciple and it is for us too when that happens. It all is out of our hands, isn’t it? And yet, those circumstantial changes are as common as the changes in the weather in Ohio. One day is sunny and unseasonably warm, and the next feels like the dead of winter. There is a lot of wisdom in the Psalmist’s release of these shifting circumstances when he says: “My times are in your hands, O Lord.” from Psalm 31.
For the Psalmist, it was just another way to say: These quirky, unexpected things that happen to me are just a part of living and it’s all in your hands, O God. I can’t change it but I have learned to trust that no matter the weather, no matter life’s ups and downs, you are the thing that keeps me stable. So, I will trust you.
I know it’s not easy to trust when things have turned sour in your life. But I also believe in the steadiness of God’s ever-loving presence. Whatever today brings, God is sufficient.
Let’s pray. God we choose to trust today. Our times are in your hands, O Lord, and they are good hands. Amen
