All the Days of My Life

I’m struggling to find words to encapsulate all the thoughts and feelings I’ve had this week in a way that makes sense for a devotion. The world is overwhelming. There is so much outside of me that leaves me bewildered and exhausted. On top of that, there is just as much going on inside of me that keeps me similarly bewildered and exhausted. Answers are not easy to come by these days. The cry of “Why?” endures.

Yet, I have found myself in prayer. I’ll be talking to God before I even realize I’m doing it. Peace eases through the tension. I am no longer lost to the chaos within and surrounding me. I breathe. I am alive. I am not alone in this storm. How does the Spirit work like that? With such gentleness and calm, no matter how the whirlwind may rage, to guide us to the space we need to breathe. To be.

I’ve been living with Psalm 23 lately. It’s been on my mind. I’ve been thinking about how often this Psalm is referred to at funerals or during someone’s last days of life. I find that unfortunate because when we do that, we forget how deeply this vision of our God may speak to us on any given day. We forget that the words of God’s peace and gentle care is for us, all the days of our life.

In my time with Psalm 23, I found this lovely paraphrase from The Spark Story Bible Psalm Book: Prayers and Poems for Kids by Naomi J. Krueger and Peter Grosshauser. Its simplicity brought a fresh understanding to this well-known Psalm. May it resonate within your life today, no matter what may be going on inside of you, in your community, or around the world. Let the tender breath of the Spirit bring you peace today.