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I'm sharing this journal entry from one of our sheep / shepherds for your encouragement and invite you to share your stories to keep us connected David
Thursday April 2, 2020: A journal entry:
JESUS WEPT.
A Morning mist of low cloud wrapped soft around the hills.
I read John 6 and tried to ponder on Jesus the living bread. But the mist beckoned and drew me outside, quickly enfolding me in its clammy embrace.
There was no pausing to choose direction. I headed straight up the hill blanketed in the foggy stillness, only birdcall echoing the inner certainty – she’s coming to pray.
Pray up the hill. I haven’t prayed up there for a while. I’ve prayed. But not there on God’s hill, my place of retreat.
At the summit, as cloud drifted and lifted, it was my heart that rained out its anguished plea, the cry for help with COVID19: LORD HEAR OUR PRAYER. Help us Jesus.
That was it. No wordy waffle. I perched on the rim of the damp bench, poised in grief and need; heart, mind and spirit turned to God, “Yet still do I praise you Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Living God.”
A lull then settled over me, like a mute button had been pressed to hush the turmoil of my distressed thoughts and wretched emotions concerning the plight of the world’s people. Wait. Be quiet!
Jesus wept. The words from last Sunday’s reading came to mind loud and clear.
33 When Jesus saw her crying, and the Judaeans who had come with her crying, he was deeply stirred in his spirit, and very troubled. 34 ‘Where have you laid him?’ he asked. ‘Master,’ they said, ‘come and see.’ 35 Jesus burst into tears. (John 11:33-35 NTE)
I too burst into tears, and as I wept, there at the top of the hill, I knew he was weeping with me. Weeping with all the world. Weeping for us all.
Turn to me. And I, turning, vision all awash, could see clearly, he was there. Feed my sheep. To this I shook my head, and thought, I’m no pastor. You are a minister of my word. Therefore, speak my word to others. Speak my word to one another. And suddenly understanding dawned. “You aren’t just saying this to me, are you? It’s your call to all of us: Feed your sheep. The responsibility is ours collectively.” And I pictured the scattered sheep, isolated from one another but belonging together and needing creative new ways of being church and speaking grace and hope to one another and others.
I plunged, then, down the hill, not following the worn paths but winding down the steeper slope, weaving through knee high weeds, around rocky mounds and patches of slippery flattened grass, to emerge at the wider base track.
Now is the time to forge new paths. Jesus is still the Way, the “base track” of my faith remains the same. It’s the network of familiar paths that represent how we have lived out our faith, that have fallen away, not God’s word or his kingdom, or his love.
I am thankful for this love that comes to us where we are: scattered sheep weeping in the mist of uncertainty. I’m thankful that Jesus wept and that his way isn’t set in stone. That he comes and calls us to discover a new and living way, today and tomorrow and the next day. Hallelujah! This is a new day! And the Jesus who weeps with us in our distress will renew us and lead us on beyond COVID19.
JESUS WEPT.
The autumn sun filtered a pale ray through the drifting grey. A reminder that the God who weeps, also sheds light as well as tears.
Not in my own strength
by Mark Gierus
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
‘Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.’ … Strengthened by that food, he travelled … until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God (1 Kings 19:7b,8b).
Read 1 Kings 19:4–8
Have you been on a holiday recently that you really needed because of work, life pressures and busyness? One where you were able to get right away from the daily routine and stresses and just be?
Perhaps you enjoyed a brilliant new book or finally caught up on the sleep you’d been promising yourself. You may have even given up technology or social media for a while or reconnected with a spouse, family member or friend.
How did you feel when you returned from holiday? Were you refreshed and ready to face life with joy? Or did you wonder whether you had the strength to return to what had caused you stress?
Many of us fall into the trap of working ourselves to burnout – not just physical burnout but spiritual burnout as well. We tell ourselves to keep pushing on, and then we’ll finally reward ourselves with a holiday. Yet sadly, we don’t always get the holiday. Some holidays are not so relaxing either because we are tired, run down and have forgotten the art of relaxing.
In our worries and stress, we find it easy to take a holiday from God but not from that which stresses us. We forget that God loves us and provides for our every need. He seems far away, and we grow weary in work and life.
Elijah had a heavy work schedule and was asked to do some challenging things. Today’s reading shows Elijah so burnt out that he would rather die. After rest, God provides a nourishing meal so he can get up and go again.
We all need a good holiday, but more importantly, we need God, day by day, who gives us strength to sustain us in all we do. Reconnect with God, spending time in his word, and he will renew your strength to face each day.
Loving God, you have called me to follow where you lead for your purpose. Help me always to trust in you, knowing that you strengthen me, not only with the things for my body, but with your precious word for my soul so that I may go where you lead me. Amen.
Pastor Mark Gierus currently serves as a Lutheran pastor in the Alberton Lutheran Parish, including the LORDS school at Ormeau in Queensland. He is married to Kerstin, and they have three beautiful girls aged 9, 13 and 23. They enjoy family things like hiking, going to the beach, singing and jamming, looking after their pets and going on road trips. Mark and Kerstin pray that God will continue to bless you as you grow in him and come to know him more and more through his life-giving eternal word.
More than a safe place
by Mark Gierus
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge (Ruth 2:12).
ReadRuth 2:1–18
Don’t you love a good reading nook or a special place in the garden to sit quietly and feel like you have a place of refuge to get away from it all? Where do you go to find refuge in the busyness of life? In the daily challenges, where do you find peace and refuge?
Perhaps you are in a season where you don’t feel you have a place just to be? You feel like you are tossed about with little control over what is happening around you. Maybe you don’t have anyone to talk to about things that are burdening you or that you are so worried about, and you are not sure what will happen next in your life?
Even in our own safe spaces, we can still feel troubled in our souls. We can try to run away from the troubles, but we are not really at peace. So, what can one do when the worries, stresses and busyness of life start to pile up so much?
Run to our loving God, who is always there with outstretched arms to receive you as you are. Although God is always near, sometimes we get lost in our worries and fix our eyes on our problems rather than on the Creator of the heavens and the earth, the one who loves and cares for us.
Call on God’s name, ask him to cover you with his wings and wrap you up in his love. Run to God under whose wings you have come to take refuge and find peace in his presence. There, you can unload all that burdens you with a good chat, giving over to your loving God all that troubles you. Hear his voice as you find refuge in his care, protection and love, under the shadow of his wings. Know that you are loved, that you are safe and that you are home.
Gracious God, when I am afraid of what lies ahead and when I am not sure how to face the challenges of daily life, let me rest under your wings of safety and protection, for you are my rock and my refuge and give me peace. Amen.
Pastor Mark Gierus currently serves as a Lutheran pastor in the Alberton Lutheran Parish, including the LORDS school at Ormeau in Queensland. He is married to Kerstin, and they have three beautiful girls aged 9, 13 and 23. They enjoy family things like hiking, going to the beach, singing and jamming, looking after their pets and going on road trips. Mark and Kerstin pray that God will continue to bless you as you grow in him and come to know him more and more through his life-giving eternal word.
Know the Lord
by Mark Gierus
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites … in the morning, you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God (Exodus 16:12).
Read Exodus 16:2–4,9–15
How do you get to know someone? It takes time – sitting with them, listening to them and sharing who you are. This is how connections and relationships grow.
How well do you know God? Have you ever spent time pondering who God is, but more importantly, who God is in your life? What are the experiences you have had with God along the way? You might only be at the beginning of your journey with God, who made you in his own image, or perhaps you have been walking with him for many years. But what do you know of God, and how have you come to know his love?
In any relationship, there are things we might hide because we fear the other person would see us differently if they knew our mistakes and failures. But God already knows the whole of you, including all your mistakes, your sins and failings and all those things you’d rather just hide from everyone.
Do you know that God loves you as you are? Even when he sees your worries, doubts, fears, grumblings and sins. He loves you and wants to provide for you. To feed you when you are hungry and give you all good things because he cares.
The Israelites were grumbling about their situation after God had brought them out of Egypt through the Red Sea, rescuing them so that they might be free from slavery, and yet they grumbled. But what does God do for them? He provides for them in their need out of deep love for them.
So how well do you know God? Know that his love was in action when he gave up his only Son, Jesus. Out of his great love for the world, God sent Jesus to suffer and die on the cross for our sins. Jesus offers you forgiveness and sets you free so that you can live in him and know the peace he gives.
Dear God, help me to know you more and more each day and to see all of the blessings you have given to me. Thank you that I am yours. Amen.
Pastor Mark Gierus currently serves as a Lutheran pastor in the Alberton Lutheran Parish, including the LORDS school at Ormeau in Queensland. He is married to Kerstin, and they have three beautiful girls aged 9, 13 and 23. They enjoy family things like hiking, going to the beach, singing and jamming, looking after their pets and going on road trips. Mark and Kerstin pray that God will continue to bless you as you grow in him and come to know him more and more through his life-giving eternal word.