“He won’t crush the weakest reed or snuff out a flickering candle.” Isa.43:2
Lord Jesus, thank you… when we feel like “weak reeds” or “flickering candles,” you don’t judge us, you welcome us. You don’t roll your eyes with disgust, you open your arms with delight. You don’t tell us to “get over it,” you get low with us. You promise a rest you alone can give, and we are grateful.
What is the story(ies) behind our weariness and vulnerability? It varies among those of us reading, praying, pondering our way through this prayer-devo today. You know and you care, and that is our hope.
Sometimes the no-break, ever-pushy, energy-depleting demands of life finally max out our reserves. Just like our phones suddenly cut off because we forgot to recharge them, we too can suddenly get “dark screen heart,” and we shut down. Jesus, you know the replenishment, rest, and refueling we need. We don’t care how, just grant it.
Sometimes our reed goes limp and our flicker gets smaller because you’ve decided it’s time for us to deal with “stuff” we’ve been stuffing, hurts we’ve been medicating, and relational issues we’ve been avoiding. Time alone doesn’t heal anything. It allows protective callouses to grow, but it doesn’t have the power to heal. Jesus, since you’ve decided it’s time to remove the “callouses,” shepherd us through the process.
Always you are at work for our good. Always you give us the mercy and grace we need. Always you can be trusted. Always we end up glad we surrendered to your timing, intervention, and rescue. Thank you, and with palms up, we offer a fresh surrender, Jesus. A Very and Grateful Amen.
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