Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Today’s reading

Philippians 1:18b-20

“Yes, I will continue to rejoice ... . It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be put to shame in any way, but that by speaking with all boldness, Christ will be exalted now as always in my body, whether by life or death” (Phil. 1:18b,20).

Prayer

Life with you is so daily. I wake and my thoughts are with you. But sometimes I do not want to pray or praise you, O Maker of the morning. Nor do I want to work. My desire is single, simple and self-serving. I want to rest in you, in blessed assurance that as surely as the day is--you are, and though I rest you are working out your love, even in me.

So what do I expect today? If you labor, what shall I expect you to do today, in me and among us? Too often the anxieties of the day sap my joy and filter my expectation so that I am more ready to think the worst than anticipate blessing. My hair-trigger heart stands alert to receive every ripple of resistance or cynicism, trouble or frustration.

Why, most Faithful Friend, should I assume such a posture when you invite me to live in precinct of inviolable promise, your promise?

Paul lived in that blessed land, and his words pull me there. Amid the grayness of his prison cell, his comforts were few, his future uncertain and his control over his days nonexistent. Yet, he expected not shame but the blessing that your beloved life would be exalted in him for your revelation and his joy.

I want to live in this way. Today, my brother, invite me to live in the sweep of your promise to complete--in me, in us, in this and every universe--the love with which you love us. Today, let me live expecting to know you, blessed Christ, and to exalt you in each encounter, for you are here and our confidence is in you alone. Amen.