Devotional 4-13-11

WISHING

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; His love endures forever. Let Israel say: His love endures forever.” Psalm 118: 1-2.

A friend shared with me that he would soon be retiring. My immediate was response was to say, “I’m so jealous, I wish I could, also”. I started paying attention to the number of times I wished it was some other time, that I was in some other place or that I could bring back some ill-said words. It seemed I was doing a lot of “wishing”. I was wishing that the day’s duties were completed; that the semester was over; that the snows (and now the rain) would end; that I hadn’t embarrassed someone with my words; that I could go to the beach for spring break, etc. Lent is almost complete—have I also been wishing Easter would hurry up and arrive?

Was that what Judas had in mind when he went to the Jewish leaders? Was he wishing that the kingdom that Jesus spoke of would be revealed sooner rather than in some distant future? Wasn’t Judas just “helping Jesus out” by providing a little jump start push? Did Peter wish he hadn’t betrayed Jesus 3 times? Did the other disciples wish they had acted or said something differently? Surely there were more regrets than were written about in the scriptures.

We have the benefit of knowing the sequence of events of Holy Week from a wider perspective and even we can’t seem to act without regret. We wish we were more faithful, or more generous, or more loving. We have betrayed Jesus in any number of ways with our neglectful behavior and sinful actions. I wish I were a better person but even as willful and stubborn as I am, I cannot change on my own. My regrets are many.

How totally uplifting, in light of these regrets, to read in the psalms that God is good and his love endures forever. My regrets can become a plea that God will grant my request for mercy. God uses our choices and failings in ways that we cannot fathom or discern. God’s plan is revealed only as we live in the “today” of our lives. Wishing ourselves into the future or wishing we had acted differently in the past, does not bring us joy. Only when we surrender to God’s plan and time frame do we find forgiveness and peace. In these last days of Lent may we celebrate the infinite grace and enduring love of God that grants us all that we need for each moment of our lives.

“Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed thy hand hath provided;
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!”
Thomas Chisholm~~~

Dear Loving and Gracious God,
We are ever grateful for all that you have done for us and for supplying all that we need even before we became aware of our need. We are sorry for our many shortcomings. We regret that we have wished for other times and places when you have placed us where we need to be. We regret uncaring words and actions when you have shown us in the life of Jesus the actions that we should be modeling. Please grant us your forgiveness once again. Grant us mercy in spite of our lack of worthiness. Fill us with your love so that we might live as Easter People—redeemed and reborn. Amen.

Chyrl Budd