Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
LORD, I must confess that I often struggle with the idea of going on. I live in a world where everywhere I turn I hear bad news or see tragedies strike. Wars and rumor of wars, families in perpetual strife, bickering and turmoil across the airwaves. You name it. No where is there peace and harmony. Even in Your church, the institution that is supposed to be the body of Christ, we can’t seem to get along, separating over some of the most trivial reasons. It is tiring. What’s more, it saddens my heart.
Yet, I am reminded today that You are the source of eternal comfort and good hope through the grace that is mine through Christ Jesus. And in the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life I can find the comfort that my heart needs to press on, being used by You to be a blessing to those around me, demonstrating not only Your presence to the world, but also being Your fingerprints of love in the life of someone else. I can be a peacemaker, spreading joy and harmony in the wake of my passing through. And all of this by the power that rests within me because of You.
LORD, manifest this spirit within me today. Let Your presence and Word in my heart spring forth blossoming in the very presence of all who come into contact with me. Be the lifter up of my head that I might be used by You to do the same for someone else. Help me to always see the glass half full and not half empty. Show me the better side and better way in all my circumstances, that I might be a bastion of hope in joy as I worship You in my living today, pointing all to a Savior Who loves us and gave His life for us. I pray this in His Name and for His glory. Amen.