Every day during Lent, members of Oconee Street UMC will write a Lenten devotional and share with the congregation.
March 29, 2014
by Adrienne Bumpers
Phillippians 4:6 NRSV
“Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”
In thinking about devotionals, sometimes the standard methods: prayers, scriptures, and workbooks don’t “do it” for me, meaning I didn’t get the depth I had hoped during my time communing with God. Today, I share a meditation with you that helped me find contentment when I was feeling frustration after encountering this.
“Our Lord, in order to console me, once told me not to be distressed by the fact that the life of the spirit does not continue on an even path. At one time, I am fervent, at another I am not. At one moment I am disquieted, a moment later I am at peace. At still another I am tempted. But I must, God reminded me, hope and not fear.
We do not understand our own needs or what we should ask for. Let us leave all to our Lord who knows us better than we know ourselves. A humble heart is content with what is given it, and does not expect special favors as though they were a right. But what shall I do, Lord, if for a long time there is no consolation at all in my prayers and I find it almost impossible to seek you out?
I believe that the best course is to be absolutely resigned, confessing that we can do nothing and to apply ourselves to other good and meritorious deeds. Maybe our Lord takes away from our souls the grace to pray easily, so that we can learn how little it is that we can accomplish with only our own strength.
Rejoice and take comfort and consider how great a privilege it is to work in the garden of so great a Lord.” From the 30 day meditation book Let Nothing Disturb You in honor of the great mystic Teresa de Avila.
If you have time, read through this meditation again, very slowly, as to savor each word. You don’t have to only read this devotion, you can also pray this. My prayer for you is that is enriches your day today as much as it has mine.