“Let the Lord give strength to his people! Let the Lord bless his people with peace!” (Psalm 29:11, CEB)
Many times lately, I have reached the 4:00 hour of the afternoon and felt utterly exhausted. I just want a nap. Sometimes, I’ve already put in a solid eight hours or more and worked through lunch. Unfortunately, those are often the days when I have fifteen more things to accomplish and a Zoom meeting or two to go before the end of the day is near. By 8:00, I can barely keep my eyes open. By 10, my vision is so blurry that it doesn’t matter if I keep them open.
There are plans to create, sermons to craft, COVID charts to interpret, logistics to arrange, phone calls to make, conferences to join, news to process, notes to write, briefings to attend. Sometimes I feel like my whole life is one big chaotic Zoom meeting.
Yesterday after my fourth Zoom meeting, my watery and blurry eyes craved some large print on this computer screen of mine. Wouldn’t you know… the option for making the characters more readable is the “zoom” option. I’m zoomed out. I have no zip in my zoom. My zoom is zapped. Lord, give me strength.
In the 29th Psalm, the writer praises the strength of God describing God’s voice as thundering, mighty and majestic. According to the psalmist, the Lord’s voice breaks trees, shatters cedars, unleashes flames, shakes the wilderness, convulses the oaks, strips the forests – talk about power! When I cry out to the Lord for strength, do I consider what I’m asking? The sheer concentration of force is intense. God’s voice is controlled authority over the whole of creation and beyond. The very breath of God is Life and Truth. Nothing is more powerful.
In our current climate of disorder (which sometimes feels like zoom zapped pandemonium), I find myself craving the stability of peace. However, I don’t think it’s appropriate to stop at a simple desire for tranquility. I’m not in need of a quiet afternoon or a day off. What’s wanting is a full-blown craving of Jesus, a total desire to be Spirit-driven. Nothing is to be more coveted than thorough reconciliation with God – reconciliation which floods our hearts with Life and Truth – reconciliation which overwhelms us with breaking, shattering, unleashed, shaking, convulsing, stripping power!
In the coming days, I will remember from where I gain peace. When I cannot keep my eyes open, I will close them in fervent prayer and call on God’s strength. Peace is not always in the calm; sometimes it’s in the power!
Peace to us all,
Pastor Beth
Many times lately, I have reached the 4:00 hour of the afternoon and felt utterly exhausted. I just want a nap. Sometimes, I’ve already put in a solid eight hours or more and worked through lunch. Unfortunately, those are often the days when I have fifteen more things to accomplish and a Zoom meeting or two to go before the end of the day is near. By 8:00, I can barely keep my eyes open. By 10, my vision is so blurry that it doesn’t matter if I keep them open.
There are plans to create, sermons to craft, COVID charts to interpret, logistics to arrange, phone calls to make, conferences to join, news to process, notes to write, briefings to attend. Sometimes I feel like my whole life is one big chaotic Zoom meeting.
Yesterday after my fourth Zoom meeting, my watery and blurry eyes craved some large print on this computer screen of mine. Wouldn’t you know… the option for making the characters more readable is the “zoom” option. I’m zoomed out. I have no zip in my zoom. My zoom is zapped. Lord, give me strength.
In the 29th Psalm, the writer praises the strength of God describing God’s voice as thundering, mighty and majestic. According to the psalmist, the Lord’s voice breaks trees, shatters cedars, unleashes flames, shakes the wilderness, convulses the oaks, strips the forests – talk about power! When I cry out to the Lord for strength, do I consider what I’m asking? The sheer concentration of force is intense. God’s voice is controlled authority over the whole of creation and beyond. The very breath of God is Life and Truth. Nothing is more powerful.
In our current climate of disorder (which sometimes feels like zoom zapped pandemonium), I find myself craving the stability of peace. However, I don’t think it’s appropriate to stop at a simple desire for tranquility. I’m not in need of a quiet afternoon or a day off. What’s wanting is a full-blown craving of Jesus, a total desire to be Spirit-driven. Nothing is to be more coveted than thorough reconciliation with God – reconciliation which floods our hearts with Life and Truth – reconciliation which overwhelms us with breaking, shattering, unleashed, shaking, convulsing, stripping power!
In the coming days, I will remember from where I gain peace. When I cannot keep my eyes open, I will close them in fervent prayer and call on God’s strength. Peace is not always in the calm; sometimes it’s in the power!
Peace to us all,
Pastor Beth