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In my first year of high school, Australia converted to decimal currency and Simon and Garfunkel released the song, “I am a rock”. While everyone in Australia was working together to adjust to the new currency the song spoke of going it alone. “I am a rock. I am an island.”
It’s a sad song about being hurt and withdrawing into isolation in order to avoid any more pain.
We’ve had some experiences of isolation this year and depending on our nature we’ve either enjoyed or hated those times.
Our God is into community. God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist in a divine community of love and because we’re made in the image of God we’re also made for community.
The Christian faith in particular and life in general aren’t meant to be solo adventures. Even those with an introverted nature need others. We all need community.
Paul describes the community in terms of a body with many different and varied parts in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12. The different parts of the body need each other and when they work together the body functions properly.
The beauty of this image and situation is found in the love and support we give and receive in the community. There are times when we desperately need the support of a loving community and there are times when we provide the support to members of the community.
This ‘strange’ year has highlighted the need for community. We need to care for each other and look out for each other.
It’s great to know God is always doing his best for us. It’s also clear our sisters and brothers are gifts from God. God often helps us through the community. God bless you with all the help you need and with all the strength you need to help others.
Do not disturb
by Jane Mueller
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My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places (Isaiah 32:18).
Read Isaiah 32:14–20
Putting your phone on ‘do not disturb’ doesn’t make the world go quiet. Notifications still arrive. Messages still stack up. The noise doesn’t disappear. It’s just that it no longer governs you. Moments are no longer determined by a device.
Isaiah speaks of peace in a similar way. He describes a scene where things are not as they should be. Palaces are abandoned, the city is levelled, and the land is overgrown with thorns. And yet, into this disorder, God speaks of quiet resting places, secure dwellings and peace that abides.
This is not the peace of everything being fixed. It’s the peace that allows you to stay present instead of shutting down or running away. It’s the peace that doesn’t silence the noise but refuses to let the noise run everything. It’s the peace of being held.
It’s not when circumstances finally cooperate that peace appears. Peace comes when God’s Spirit is poured out. It is not the reward for getting things right; it is the gift that allows us to endure while things remain unresolved. It comes before anything is resolved, and it holds even when chaos doesn’t let up.
This kind of peace doesn’t shout, announce itself or demand a response. Like a phone set to ‘do not disturb’, it simply refuses to let every disruption take control.
Isaiah describes people living quietly, not because they are free of threats, but because they are grounded in God’s care and provision. God’s peace holds when life is disordered, noisy, uncertain or unfinished. Peace is often felt when attention shifts from everything that clambers for a response to the God who is already holding us.
God’s promise of peace is not about escapism. The peace he promises is the ability to remain in this world – with all its obstacles, troubles and challenges – without being defeated.
God of peace, when my mind is noisy and my attention is pulled in too many directions, help me rest in you. When messages pile up, expectations press in and nothing feels settled, remind me that I am held in your care. Quiet what needs quieting and keep me grounded in your presence today. Amen.
Jane is a former Lutheran school principal and now serves as the Governance Leadership Director for Lutheran Education SA/NT/WA. Jane has a keen interest in psychology, hiking, learning new things and trying new things.
Held
by Jane Mueller
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Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me … (John 17:11b).
Read John 17:1–11
Jesus prays this when everything is about to unravel.
The teaching is finished. The meal is over. The room will soon be empty. Jesus knows what’s coming. Arrest, betrayal, confusion and fear are just hours away. Everything that had begun to make sense is about to collapse.
And yet, he does not rush. He does not scramble. He does not strategise or issue final instructions.
He prays.
Jesus lifts his eyes and speaks to his Father. He doesn’t cry out for escape; he calls for care. He doesn’t plead that his followers be spared from what’s coming; he pleads that they be protected through it – kept in the Father’s name. He prays that they would be held.
The Christian life is about being held. The disciples are held before they understand. Held when their faithfulness falters. Held before they find their footing again.
Jesus does not pray that his followers will hold it all together. He prays that they will be held. Held when fear strips away certainty. Held when unity is strained. Held when security seems distant. Held when the next step feels unclear. Held when tomorrow feels unthinkable. Held when praise comes slowly, and trust has to be relearned.
This is the beginning: God holding us. It’s not about our grip; it’s about God’s.
The Bible readings for the days ahead will speak of peace in noisy places, provision in dry ones, unity under pressure, confidence without control, faithfulness in the ordinary and praise that moves at an unhurried pace. Every one of these readings flows from this same starting point. We do not keep going by gripping harder; we keep going because God is already holding us.
We are held.
Heavenly Father, when I feel overwhelmed, unsure or afraid of what lies ahead, remind me that I do not have to hold everything together. Hold me when my inner world feels unsteady, when fear gets loud, and when trust has to be relearnt. Amen.
Jane is a former Lutheran school principal and now serves as the Governance Leadership Director for Lutheran Education SA/NT/WA. Jane has a keen interest in psychology, hiking, learning new things and trying new things.
A loving, committed Father
by Charles Bertelsmeier
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
Father to the fatherless, defender of widows – this is God, whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely in families; he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy (Psalm 68:5,6a).
Read Psalm 68:1–10,32–35
I can say that the above verses align with my personal experience. I had a very loving father, and I was able to transfer the wonderful positives of my relationship with him to my Heavenly Father. I have experienced God’s deliverance in threatening experiences and his liberation from severe negatives in my life.
But I know lots of people who have been failed or feel they’ve been failed by actual fathers and father figures, by absent fathers and fathers who died while they were young, and then seemingly by God also.
So how do we reconcile our experiences of people suffering severely and a loving God who says he loves and cares for everyone? Many people use this as an excuse for rejecting the Christian God (and any god, in fact).
From my reading of the Bible, and the stories of real people’s lives, I am one hundred per cent convinced that our loving Heavenly Father is working in the lives of every single person in this world to draw them into a relationship with the Heavenly Family (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). Remember that God’s Son, Jesus, suffered the humiliating execution on a Roman cross for every single person who has ever lived, is alive now, and who will live in the future, to remove all barriers to them being welcomed into this heavenly family.
How God works in people’s lives is very specific to each person. God knows each person intimately, and out of his love for them, works in the way he knows best to reach them with the offer of his healing and restoring love.
Beyond that, I am not going to sit in judgement of God as to how he could have done a better job with any specific person.
However, I repeatedly surrender all that I am and have to God so he can use me as part of the way he works in people’s lives and change me so that I can be used by him more. I say ‘repeatedly’ because I also regularly take back control of my life, because I haven’t yet learned to fully trust God with my life, and often think I can do a better job. Thank God for his gracious love and mercy.
Heavenly Father, you have declared your love and commitment to every single person in this world, and you are working in their lives to bring them into a relationship with you. I surrender all that I am and have to you to use me as your hands, feet and voice of love to those I interact with each day. Amen.