Day 14: Gathering Gifts
Morning Prayer
As you come to the end of these two weeks of isolation you may be preparing to go back to normal life or you may be preparing for further isolation. Regardless of what’s next for you, take some time to reflect on the gifts of the past two weeks during your prayer time this morning.
Think back to the start of your isolation. What feelings, thoughts and tensions did you experience at that time? How does that compare with how you feel today?
As you think about the past weeks, which parts of the “rule of life” you’ve developed have been life-giving for you? Which parts have drained your energy? Are there any changes you’d like to make as you move forward?
What does God want to show you about how he has been with you these past weeks?
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Midday Reflection
Our Immanuel,
who has been, is and will always be with us,
reveal how you have been present with us in these weeks
that we may gain the gifts of greater confidence and trust
in your faithful presence with us as we step into our future,
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who with the Father and the Holy Spirit
take delight in being present with us in all things, at all times and everywhere.
Amen.
Gathering gifts
Written by Ellen Burany
Read I Samuel 7:10-14. After God enabled the Israelites to defeat the Philistines, Samuel set up a stone, naming it Ebenezer, to enable them to remember how God, in his goodness and faithfulness, had been their helper. The people would from then on have a reminder of what God had done. This would not only give God glory, but it would also draw a forgetful people to remember with gratitude the kind of God they really worshipped. This isn’t all there is to glean, though! What God had done for Israel changed the whole trajectory of their future! God’s movement in their lives at that time brought relief, restoration and peace into their years ahead. God’s work of the past impacted their future.
Consider this: There is work that the Lord has done in your soul over these past weeks. Not only does God want you to remember what he’s done in you as you move into the days ahead, but it might be helpful to recognize that this work he has done might just be the beginning of some new ways of being and living that significantly impact your life as well as your relationships with God and others for years to come.
You’ve begun to mine some of the gifts of this experience, now let’s take some time to mine even more by looking back as well as looking toward the future concerning the invitations of God.
Reflect on the following questions with God, asking his Spirit to reveal what he desires.
What has the Lord done in your heart during these weeks? What has he reminded you of? Revealed to you? Shifted in your perspective? Changed in you?
Spend some time giving thanks to God for what he has done in you.
Now, ask the Lord to reveal to you his invitations concerning your future.
Although not all of these may be an invitation right now, are there any new ways of being or shifts God is inviting you to make or continue, through his help and power, as you move ahead:
in your relationship with Him?
in your relationships with those close to you?
in the way(s) you relate with yourself?
in other relationships?
in your perspective?
in the way you do life or how you focus?
in your view of and/or approach to your work and those you work with?
As you end this time, consider finding an actual stone and writing a word or drawing a picture or symbol on it on one side that reminds you of what the Lord has done in you during this time and on the other side the Lord’s invitation is to you as you walk into the days ahead.
***
An evening prayer of examen on the day
Each evening before going to bed, take some time to sit with God, reviewing the day and considering the following questions:
What has been good today?
Take some time to write down everything you are thankful for...the taste of your morning coffee, something that made you laugh, a conversation you had, something you read, anything. Thank God for these moments.
What has been hard?
When did you feel disconnected? What feelings came up that were uncomfortable? What unresolved thoughts do you have? What anxieties, fears or worries did you encounter? Speak these out to God, and listen for what he might say to you about them.
Ask God to show you how he was with you in the good and the hard today. Thank him for His presence and receive His grace.
What does it look like to trust him for tomorrow?
Let us go in peace to love and serve the Lord
In the name of Christ, Amen