Weekly Reflection (13th July 2020)
A very good morning to you. It is a pleasure to be back with you. How was your week? I pray that the present stage-three restrictions 2.0 will be a special period of time between you and your heavenly Father.
Let us begin with a third Century prayer by Origen. Origen was born in Alexandria, Egypt and the greatest theologian the Greek Church has produced.
His wonderful intellectual gifts were supplemented by a deep faith and mystical enthusiasm that led to his martyrdom in AD 253.
Let us pray:
God can do anything. Let us beg him to take pity on us and make us not merely listen to what he tells us but do it as well. May he send the flood of his waters over our souls, destroy in us what he knows is in need of destruction and give life to what he considers should live, through Christ our Lord and his Holy Spirit. To him be glory, age after age, for all eternity. Amen.
The Collect of the Week
Sixth Sunday After Pentecost
O Lord, we beseech you mercifully to receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfil them; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Bible Reading
2 Peter 3:1-9
Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2 I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. 3 Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. 8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
Devotion
Waiting…Waiting…
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)
We are now in stage-three restriction 2.0. This is most frustrating for most people and for many of us, it is inconvenient to say the least. “How long more?” seems to be the most prevalent question today.
Have you ever noticed that God is not in a hurry? Abraham and Sarah had to wait for 25 years in their old age before they finally received Isaac, the son God promised them. It took 20 years before Jacob was released from Laban’s control. It took 17 years of preparation before Joseph was delivered from slavery and imprisonment. It took 40 years for Moses to receive His commission to lead the people out of Egypt.
At this time of the second round of stage three restrictions, it seems that God is saying to us to wait some more. Have you ever noticed that God is not in a hurry? So why isn’t God in a hurry? What may God be saying to us in this time of waiting?
You see, we are a very task-oriented society. It is not uncommon to be introduced first by your name and secondly by the task you do – a doctor, a home-maker, a retiree, a police officer and so forth. We are very much defined by the work we do and many times known more for our profession than who we really are as a person. But when God called each of us. He is more interested in who we are rather than what we can accomplish in life and for His Kingdom. He is in no hurry to bring into fulfillment our tasks on earth until He is satisfied with who we are Him. This is where waiting is called for.
The lesson we need to learn today is that God wants to accomplish what He wanted in us before He wants to accomplish tasks through us. I say that again, “God wants to accomplish what He wanted in us before He wants to accomplish tasks through us.”
Even when we live for God, we are often more focused on outcomes rather than the process of what should be accomplished in our lives. However, when we learn to experience His presence and working in our lives daily. Then one day we can wake up and realize that God has done something special in and through our lives. Even this accomplishment is no longer what excites us. Instead, what excites us now is knowing Him.
These are the times we experience and become more acquainted with His love, His grace, and His power in our lives. When this happens, we are no longer focused on the outcome because the outcome is a result of our walk and relationship with Him. Achievements will now not the goal of our walk with God, but the by-product. Hence, when Joseph came to power in Egypt, he probably couldn’t have cared less. He had come to a place of complete surrender so that he was not anxious about tomorrow or his circumstances. This is the lesson for us today.
We must wait for God’s timing and embrace whatever the process He puts us through. When we let that happens, we begin to experience God and He can use us in ways we never thought possible.[1]
The Morning Collect
Eternal God and Father, by whose power we are created and by whose love we are redeemed: guide and strengthen us by your Spirit, that we may give ourselves to your service, and live this day in love to one another and to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline. May we rekindle the gift of God within us.
Thank you for sharing this time with me. Have a wonderful and blessed day living for our Lord Jesus Christ. Goodbye and see you next Monday. God bless you.
[1] Based on, “Today God Is First, Volume 1 by Os Hillman”. (10th August 2003)