December 29
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:2
The world around us often brings us news that is both pessimistic and bad. So many times the prevailing wisdom is cynical and lacks a promising hope. Conventional thinking frequently limits our options and neither encourages nor uplifts us. Always on this journey, we must look beyond this world’s limited vision to see instead the vision that God wants us to see. God is not defined by negativity and limitation. God does not conform to human cynicism or convention. God instead has different ideas. And it is to God that we need to turn – for understanding, for guidance, for discernment, for strength and for a better way beyond our current circumstances. The answers of this world alone will limit us. But the answers from God will set us free.
I need to move beyond any thinking that pulls me down or keeps me from realizing all the hope and promise you have created for me. Dear God, I’m calling on you to help me see things your way, a way of possibility, of healing and of peace. Amen.
December 30
If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
Romans 12:18
As another year comes to a close, it is a good time to resolve to let lingering animosities, bitter feelings and festering resentments end with it. We don’t need them weighing us down, distracting us from the work of creating wellness and staying well. The burdens of the heart and mind that we hold onto only hinder our healing and survival. They serve no discernable good, but drain us of the energy we need, to grow in health with each new day. As this year and all its challenges and frustrations begin to move behind us, make it a matter of course for the new year ahead to find a way to make peace where there is tension. The journey will be incredibly smoother and better when we do.
Dear God, I say it all the time, letting go of the hurt that has been placed upon me is the hardest thing I have to do. But I know I need to do it for my own well-being and peace of mind. Help me today, help me tomorrow, help me with every day ahead to do what you have already done for me – forgive. Amen.
December 31
… that he has shown them according to his mercy, according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
Isaiah 63:7c
Today, on this last day of this year, we continue to recall how generous God is to us. As we look back on the year and all that’s happened to us, there will surely be many mixed feelings. Certainly, we have had struggles and fears; we have had heartache and pain. But just as certainly we have been touched with rest and relief; as well as moments of joy and comfort, too. While it’s easy to focus on what has gone wrong, we must refocus on what has gone right. God has joined us and is accompanying us on this journey. God understands our distress and God is bringing help in every moment of need. Look back and you will see this to be evident and true. This is cause for celebration and relief.
As this year closes and another is about to begin, I resolve not to focus just on what has been hard for me. Instead I am finding encouragement and hope in recounting all that has blessed and uplifted me this year. There are more blessings than I can say. Thank you, O God. Amen.
January 1
… and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.
Revelation 21:3b,4
On this first day of this new year we are given the centuries-old hope that indeed God is with us. We are reminded once again that God is with us to help take away our reasons for sadness and disappointment. We are reminded that death need not destroy us nor be the last word for us. We are reminded that no longer will grief consume us or lament and hurt be part of our lives. On this new day in this new year we are promised that all these things can be put behind us once and for all. These are words of triumph. These are words to bring us infinite hope today.
O God of new life, I come to you with great hope and expectation today for what this new year will bring. I pray with a vision of your great promises on my heart and in my mind. Amen.
January 2
For he has said, "Surely they are my people, children who will not deal falsely"; and he became their savior in all their distress.
Isaiah 63:8
We all want to belong. We all want to know that we are valued, included and loved. We need the reassurance of belonging; it is a basic human requirement. Knowing we belong means knowing that we are cared for. It means knowing that others have compassion on our needs. It means knowing that we are not alone in our circumstances and distress. That wonderful knowledge is extremely powerful for us. It reminds us that we are never without help, never forced to face disease, disappointment or danger by ourselves. It means, above all, that God is always with us, always helping us and always reaching out to us – even when we do not realize it. This is wonderful news. This we must remember every day.
While there are many times when I feel as if no one understands or cares, ultimately I come back to the knowledge that you care and that you understand what I need. Dear Lord, I am glad that I belong to you and that you so deeply love me. Amen.
January 3
It was no messenger or angel but his presence that saved them, in his love and in his pity he redeemed them.
Isaiah 63:9
Ultimately, it is God who supplies us with everything we need. It is God who knows us infinitely better than anyone else. It is God who knows us far more intimately than we know ourselves. It is God who created us in a divine image. Because of God’s creation of us and God’s thorough knowledge of us, God’s love for us is profound and deep. In that love God desires nothing bad or harmful for us. God’s love compels God to only offer us hope, forgiveness, grace and peace. It is this knowledge that can inspire us on the journey with cancer. Because when the days get difficult and rough, we can find confidence in the assurance that God is working out a better way for us.
I know that when I have had troubled days in the past, you, dear God, have carried me through them. You have always shown me a way out of my distress. I am deeply grateful for that and I will remember that in days to come. Amen.
January 4
For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven: …
Ecclesiastes 3:1
God has ordered this world and the life within it with natural rhythms and cycles, with beginnings and endings, that are time-honored and enduring. All too often our human inclination is to try to reorder those rhythms to suit our self-appointed desires. We are not good at waiting when we should. We are too quick to break into cycles, disrupting and subverting them. We are too slow to recognize the rhythms we should let play out and too slow to understand when we need to act in concert with them. In our journey toward healing we need to take time for discernment about what we can change and what we cannot. We need to become more sensitive to the natural order that God has established for our health and our well-being.
Dear God, one of the hardest things for me to do is to recognize when I need to act and when I need to step back and wait. Help me to know when I am getting in the way of your timing and seasons. I know that when I do understand your rhythms everything goes so much better. Amen.
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