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Written by L. B. Cowman (1870-1960), an American writer and author of devotional books. This is an excerpt from her book “Streams of the Desert.”

The pressure of hard places makes us value life. Every time our life is given back to us from such a trial, it is like a new beginning, and we learn better how much it is worth, and make more of it for God and man. The pressure helps us to understand the trials of others and fits us to help and sympathize with them. There is a shallow, superficial nature, that gets hold of a theory or a promise lightly and talks very glibly about the distrust of those who shrink from every trial; but the man or woman who has suffered much never does this, but is very tender and gentle, and knows what suffering really means. This is what Paul meant when he said, “Death worketh in you.” Trials and hard places are needed to press us forward, even as the furnace fires in the hold of that mighty ship give force that moves the piston, drives the engine, and propels that great vessel across the sea in the face of the winds and waves.

Prayer:

Written by Scotty Smith, a contemporary American pastor.

Dear Heavenly Father, help me to see pain and suffering with eyes of grace. Father, sometimes looking at the crucibles and crises, and cruel stories and crushing blows of life makes me want to run and hide, fix or deny. When overwhelming need is staring me down; hard things over which I have zero control; and stories which seem to contradict your goodness and sovereignty, help me to see from the perspective of eternity. Thank you, Father. I pray in Jesus’ kind and healing name. Amen.

Written by Lewis and Sarah Allen. Lewis is a contemporary pastor and Sarah a teacher and women’s ministry leader. This is an excerpt from their work: “Resilient Faith: Learning to Rely on Jesus in the Struggles of Life.”

How are you doing? Do you get up on a Sunday morning with a “shall I, shan’t I?” dilemma, ready to make up your mind about church according to whether you’re feeling good about the faith or about yourself? How about instead, you get up, whether with a joyful or a heavy heart, and tell yourself, Jesus is calling me to assemble with the saints. He wants me to draw close to him with others and to refresh and help me. He wants to use me to bring encouragement to fellow strugglers. This is my privilege and my duty. You worship, because he is worthy and because you need to be a worshiper. Worship nurtures faith.

Prayer:

Written by Kevin Halloran, a contemporary pastor and author.

Heavenly Father, this morning—and all of history—is about you. Please help me worship you with an undistracted heart. You know how my mind wanders to my upcoming week, present worries, and thoughts of others and other things. Help me put those thoughts away and focus on you and your glory. Would your Spirit cause my heart, soul, mind, and strength to exalt your Holy Name in my singing, listening to Your Word, and interacting with your people. Amen.

Written by Judith E. Smith, a contemporary scholar, teacher, and author.

One of the myths of our culture is that control of ourselves and others is what gives us freedom. If we are in control, then obviously we can make decisions, and that leaves us free. But that is a myth. The paradox is that as we give up control to God, we actually live in a deeper freedom. The freedom of God may call us to turn all of our most precious definitions of faithfulness on their heads. It may be that the most difficult call for us to respond to is not a call that demands of us great sacrifices but a call that offers to us great gifts.

Prayer:

Written by Sarah Nicols, a contemporary author.

 Lord, we know whatever place we may find ourselves in today is only temporary, as this is our earthly home, yet we can’t help but long to be somewhere other than where we are. We know you are the Prince of Peace, but when we can’t control where we find ourselves, we tend to feel anxious. Help us release our worry to you and find the peace only you can offer. Help us to be present even in temporary spaces, glorifying you in each place we land. Amen.

Written by John Mogabgab (1946-2014), founding editor of Weavings: A Journal of the Christian Spiritual Life. This is an excerpt from the Editor’s Introduction of Weavings in 2000.

Tears of grief and tears of joy often mingle together in a single moment of enhanced vision, endowing us with new eyes that discern traces of the God who suffers with us silently in the pure vulnerability and power of divine love. There is comfort in such tears. They bring fresh understanding that God is nearby, sharing to the full our humanity in all its bitterness and blessedness.

Prayer:

Today’s prayer is a collect from the Church of England. A collect is a set form of prayer that brings together our thoughts on a matter.

Lord Jesus Christ,

may the tears shed in your earthly life

be balm for all who weep,

and may the prayers of your pilgrimage

give strength to all who suffer;

for your mercy’s sake. Amen.

Written by Sheryl Giesbrech, a contemporary author. This is an excerpt from her book “It’ll Be Okay: Finding God When Doubt Hides the Truth.”

“A soul cannot seek close fellowship with God, or attain the abiding consciousness of waiting on Him all the day, without a very honest and entire surrender to all His will”  [Andrew Murray].  Most of us hate to wait. We can access technology to avoid waiting; we can order our jeans online to avoid the agony of long lines; we can ask Google our questions instead of waiting for an answer from a person; we can even hop on the internet to schedule dinner reservations to skip waiting for a seat at our favorite restaurant. We sometimes think of wait as a four-letter word. And it is, of course, but “wait” is not a cuss word. We must wait in a doctor’s office or for test results…and that makes us feel out of control. And we are. But what if our attitude was adjusted to focus on how we wait? God doesn’t move any swifter in the twenty-first century than he did in the first. We can’t rush God, but we can allow the time we spend in the “waiting room” to be a time of great personal growth. So we all have a choice: how will we wait? It helps to “invite God into the waiting room.” With this step of faith, we are allowing God to have his way and his will while we wait with him, instead of on him. To put it simply, “God’s will be done, no matter how long it takes.” When we invite God to be part of whatever or whomever we are waiting on, our dark fears, clouded doubts, and gloomy impatience can be countered with the light of his word… It helps to invite God into the waiting room with us, but we must remember that although doubt may join us there, too, we will not let it remain. When God waits with us, our faith is strengthened, our hope is renewed.

Prayer:

Written by Augustine of Hippo (354-430), an early Christian theologian and philosopher. He was the bishop of Hippo Regius (modern day Annaba, Algeria) and is viewed as one of the most important church fathers in Western Christianity.

Lord Jesus, let our minds rest in your Word, so that when doubt and grief would overwhelm us, faith will open our eyes to see your hand at work in our life and enable us to turn toward the future with hope and toward each other in perfect charity. Amen.

Written by Max Lucado, a contemporary pastor and author.  This is an excerpt from his book “Calm Moments for Anxious Days.”

The Lord is in control. He knows how it all turns out. And He promised it will be for my good. He will give me the courage to keep going and the hope to hold on …The presence of fear does not mean you have no faith. Fear visits everyone. Even Christ was afraid (Mark 14:33). But make your fear a visitor and not a resident. Hasn’t fear taken enough? Enough smiles? Chuckles? Restful nights, exuberant days? Meet your fears with faith… I don’t have to live afraid. Because God cares. He holds my hands and leads me safely to Him.

Prayer:

Written by the author of today’s meditation, Max Lucado.

Father, you are good — so good that you did not leave us alone on this earth. You left us your Spirit to guide us. Because of your Spirit, I never have to feel alone or afraid. You are with me always. Amen.

Written by Dawn Wilson, a contemporary author, publisher, and director of Heart Choices today.

God is always with us, but He wants to bring people alongside us to encourage, challenge, and teach us. Brothers and sisters in Christ can help us change our future. We find many of these edifying relationships in church. Seek out and pray for godly mentors, counselors, and teachers within the Body of Christ. To “edify” is to “instruct or improve someone morally or intellectually; to tutor, train and guide.” This is what Paul meant when he wrote, “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up.” We need people to pour biblical wisdom into our lives; and we need to find people we can likewise encourage. The Titus 2 model of mentoring and discipleship is often neglected in the church, but it’s one of the best ways to grow a healthy congregation. Outside the church, we can build encouraging relationships too—but be careful! Be choosy about your chums! Close relationships have the power to draw you away from the things of the Lord or toward Him and His ways. Don’t be a “companion of fools.”

Prayer:

Written by Candace Crabtree, a contemporary writer.

God, help our church body to walk in a manner worthy of the calling You have given us. Help us in all our interactions with one another to have humble and gentle hearts. Grant us patience for one another, bearing with one another in love. Grant the Body of Christ unity. May we walk humbly with You, God, allowing You to show us our wrongs. Amen.

Written by Beth Patch, a contemporary author and Internet producer/editor.

Memorial Day – to some it’s merely the beginning of summer and to others it’s a solemn day to remember those who have passed from this life. However, to the war veteran and to the families of fallen soldiers, Memorial Day carries significance so deep that words cannot express their hearts. When we look into the eyes of those who still mourn these once vibrant men and women, we often sense their loneliness and pain. We hear them choke back tears as they simply say the ranks and names of their military brothers and sisters at a Memorial Day service. White gloves, dress uniforms, rigid posture, and perfectly precisioned salutes represent the reverence and respect flowing from within. Those who have been personally affected by war understand and appreciate this day of remembrance. What should we say to those who sincerely honor this day? “Happy Memorial Day” doesn’t seem fitting. “I’m sorry for your loss” may be closer to appropriate. What would the fallen soldier want from their comrades and the rest of the country on this day?

In an often quoted Memorial Day speech given in 1884 by Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., the speaker ended his address with these words, “Our dead brothers still live for us, and bid us think of life, not death — of life to which in their youth they lent the passion and joy of the spring. As I listen, the great chorus of life and joy begins again, and amid the awful orchestra of seen and unseen powers and destinies of good and evil our trumpets sound once more a note of daring, hope, and will.” The American soldier who gave his or her life for U.S. citizens to enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness won’t be telling us how to observe the holiday. But I believe that Holmes’ proposition to “think of life, not death” would honor the fallen soldier. Their sacrifice follows the example of Jesus Christ laying down His life for our freedom. It’s selfless love for others – not so others can mourn forever, but live!

Prayer:

The author of this prayer is unknown.

Gracious God, on this Memorial Day, we pray for those who courageously laid down their lives for the cause of freedom. May the examples of their sacrifice inspire in us the selfless love of Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Bless the families of our fallen troops, and fill their homes and their lives with Your strength and peace. In union with people of goodwill of every nation, embolden us to answer the call to work for peace and justice, and thus, seek an end to violence and conflict around the globe. We ask this through your name. Amen.

Written by Ben Tertin, a contemporary pastor and podcast editor.  This is an excerpt from his article “When is Pentecost? And How Does It Relate to God’s Kingdom.”

Pentecost is a long-standing Jewish harvest party, a Christian celebration as old as Jesus’ Church, and a Greek word that means “fiftieth.” And the Pentecost moment described in the New Testament is a 1st-century event in Jerusalem where people’s heads caught fire (sort of). At this event, an indoor windstorm swirled through a packed house party, and everyone was baffled—some panicked. And then the guys with fiery heads became spontaneously multilingual… In the Hebrew Bible, mysterious windstorms with fire or lightning are consistently associated with two things: God’s presence and the formation of a temple.  The stories of Moses and the burning bush, Mount Sinai, the tabernacle, and the temple all include fire that shows up when God’s presence arrives and marks his dwelling space or temple. In Acts 2. Luke is hyperlinking to these previous divine-fire scenes to give a background to the Pentecost story. The divine fire has previously rested on Yahweh’s temple spaces, so where does it rest in this scene?… It’s a temple made out of “each one of them.” It’s made of people. People will meet with God not in a geographic place or constructed space but in connection with those who choose to trust and follow Jesus. God’s fire shines with power and harms nobody, and it ignites a cosmic revolution, the Church. The story tells us that God now dwells within the community of Jesus followers. This living temple is made of people who operate like Jesus, ending fear and oppression with love and peacefully teaching humanity how to love and bless one another. In this sense, Pentecost marks the beginning of a new world… So what is Pentecost Sunday all about? It’s about this unexpected (yet expected) moment in 1st-century Jerusalem when the apostles’ heads caught fire, when a strange indoor windstorm swirled through a packed party filled with international travelers. It is the day foreshadowed by every wind-and-fire episode in the Old Testament and the day Jesus promised would happen as he quoted the prophet Isaiah. It’s the moment his loving Church began, and it’s the beginning of a new, peaceful world.

Prayer:

Written by Pete Briscoe, a contemporary pastor, radio host, and author.

Come Holy Spirit dance in our souls.

Come as the fire of love and burn in our hearts.

Come, O Breath of God blow through our lives.

Come, O come, Dove of peace and beat your strong wings

above all that we do in Jesus’ name.

Amen

Today’s meditation is from the group “Lead Like Jesus,” a group founded by author Ken Blanchard with the mission of glorifying God by inspiring and equipping people to lead like Jesus.

How effective are you at influencing others through your words? The wise person considers how to share their knowledge in ways that will draw people’s interest and attention. Considering what to say, how much to say and when to say it, are all elements of wise speech. Talking with God about the matter before we talk with others is always a good idea. Asking Him to sort through our words and anoint them so that they are appealing will infuse our words with appropriate humility and confidence.

Prayer:

Written by Scott Cairns, a contemporary American poet, professor, librettist, and spiritual essayist.

Lamb of God and Good Shepherd, Holy Servant and Holy King, Infant Child and Eternal Lord Whom the Heavens Cannot Contain, teach us what we are to cry aloud. Bless our tongues with words that lead us and others truly to the Word. Now and ever, and unto the ages. Amen.