There is so much I’d like to change for people.
I’d like to return to the widow her husband of so many years.
I’d like to give the infertile couple a child to hold.
I’d like to relieve the diseased of the invasive force ravaging her body.
I’d like to instill purpose in the mind of the boy about to become a man.
I’d like to arrange for the lonely a life companion.
I’d like to give the impoverished security in the form of abundant resources.
I’d like to protect the victims of silent abuse.
I’d like to free the chained from a sin that so easily defeats him.
I’d like to remove debt that forces career decisions in opposition to deeply held longings.
I’d like to assure the simple that seeking first the Kingdom of God is superior to the wasted efforts of making this life more comfortable.
I’d like to promote peace in families and homes where conflict passes as normal daily activity.
I’d like to develop a hunger to read God’s Word for lifelong Christians who rarely open its pages.
I’d like to spread joy to the joyless souls plodding along in this life without this part of their salvation made available to them by the Holy Spirit.
O, Father, these are my friends, my family, my sisters and brothers-in-Christ. They enter a new year with the remnants of last year in its many forms hanging on to them. Their circumstances reveal the reality of living under the curse. Their pain and sorrow limits some and debilitates others.
I am unable to do little more than provide a pause to their daily distresses. You, however, can do all things. You alone possess the wisdom to know what is best for these you love. You alone express the power to overcome their most formidable enemies. You alone utter words capable of convincing the skeptic of a better way.
I pray for them like my Lord, your son, prayed for those whom he loved (John 17). Come to the aid of your creation. Make all things new. Do for your creation what neither I nor any other in your creation can do for them. Bring, I pray, to your people change that will cause them to glorify God for the great things you have done.
I pray this in Jesus’s name.
Amen.
As always, I welcome your feedback and any suggestions you might have for an upcoming Lunchtime Musing.
Two links to help with your 2017 Bible reading.