MEDITATION:
Written by Nina Pope from the Village Church.
Exile is a lonely place—to me, the image that the word evokes is enduring sadness, isolation, helplessness, and hopelessness. It is the place that most everyone has been at one time or another and the place no one wants to be. Exile can be self-inflicted or circumstantial, and either way it is painful. Although not fully understood then, the grace of God hauled me out of a time of exile many years ago. I entered college with expectations that were fully unmet; I was taken by surprise that the experience I was having did not in any way resemble the vision I expected – for the first time in my life, I was the proverbial fish out of water and was stunned. Eventually, I connected with a few others who shared some common interests and thus began emerging from the overpowering exile that had overtaken me. Years later when I read the story of Jacob’s son, Joseph, who was stranded by his brothers in that pit hoping for rescue, I could identify.
Joseph waited, and God’s mercy and grace removed him from the pit and eventually lifted him to unexpected heights of glory and reconciliation with his family. Like Joseph’s, my own release from exile had a great impact on my future years. In retrospect, I realize God’s hand has always been on me. In good times and harder times, God has always escorted me, and I stake my very existence on that fact. All Fall, Jack immersed us in the notion that we build our lives on a foundation of infallible rock, so that no matter what comes our way, and the chips are down, there is no exile for us because we cling to the embrace of a caring, powerful, and triumphant God.
PRAYER:
Today’s Prayer is written by Christina Fox, a contemporary counselor, writer, speaker, and author.
Father in heaven, you are my rock. My shelter and place of safety. You are my firm foundation. You do not change. Nothing can move you. I thank you that in Christ, I am safe. He is my refuge and my fortress. Nothing and no one can snatch me from him. May these truths be my comfort and strength in these uncertain times. In Jesus’s name, amen.
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