The Fourth Week of Easter: From FEAR to TRUST
STEP ONE: BREATHE
Take a deep, cleansing breath. Allow the air to fill your lungs and expand your body. Exhale and empty yourself into the room. Repeat three times - once for the one who Created you, once for the Incarnate One who walks beside you, and once for the Spirit whose life fills your being.
STEP TWO: DWELL IN WORD
“And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
”
FEAR NOT - Some things to try out
Ending each week of this devotional, there will be a collection of practical suggestions on how you can FEAR NOT. As pastors we know the importance of bringing the abstract ideas of faith down to earth. What can I do in the face of fears? Here are a few suggestions from the pastors who wrote this week’s devotions. Try them out. Allow them to spark other ideas within yourself.
“One of my go-to truisms is this: You can’t change others, you can only change yourself. You cannot make people be loving or make them make good choices or make them agree with you or make them have faith. You will experience a greater peace of mind if you let go of trying to change others and trust God to work in God’s own mysterious ways.
What you can do is choose how you behave. You can choose to be loving, to consider how other people will be affected by what you do or what you don’t do before you do it. Let your choices express your faith to the world.””
“One of the major reasons stories are passed on about countries and families is that they show how people trusted and persevered through crisis and storms to a safe and better ending. The Bible functions the same way. The story of the Israelites’ rescue from Egypt is told each Passover as one of the prime examples that as the people trusted in God, God provided. Each Holy Week we hear stories of how Jesus wrestled with fear, doubt, faith and trust as he walked toward the sacrifice he was about to make on behalf of the world. Then on Easter Sunday we all rejoice in how that walk of faith ended. During this time of uncertainty surrounding our future in the face of Covid-19 many have turned to the story of Noah and the flood as a source of hope. You’ll recall that God promised never to destroy the earth and its inhabitants ever again and the rainbow became a sign of that promise (see Genesis 9:8-17). Adults and children have drawn rainbows on windows and sidewalks to inspire hope. Maybe it’s time for all of us to remember and draw a rainbow so that we trust that there will be an end to this pandemic.””
“There is a beautiful prayer that is part of Christian Compline - or the ancient prayer at the end of the day. It goes, “guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping; that awake we may watch with Christ and asleep we may rest in peace.” These words demonstrate a simple trust in God’s care as the day closes. They make a great bed-time prayer. Trusting in God, we go to sleep knowing that we are loved and connected with Christ. Try it out tonight!”
”
STEP THREE: PRAY
Gracious God, there are many things that go bump in the night. It is easy, especially these days, to find ourselves discouraged and even overwhelmed by fear. We readily join the disciples’ chorus; “don’t you care that we are perishing!” Calm our troubled spirits that we might take a deep and filling breath. Still the commotion in our hearts that we might focus on your eternal love. Trusting in your presence, promise, and power may we find new courage to follow Jesus. Through Christ, amen.
Today’s prayer is by Pastor Walt Lichtenberger .