The Miracle Path: A Daily Devotional – Walking with God from One Easter Season to Another

By Tessa Hughes

Tessa Hughes’s morning devotional with God, written during the first year of the pandemic, provides an uplifting and encouraging daily reminder for those who face challenges in their faith and day-to-day lives. Because it was written daily from the time the pandemic began, it begins on April 1 and takes the reader through March of the following year to span one Easter season to another. The author provides selected excerpts from the Daily Lectionary’s readings for each day to accompany the devotionals.

The Miracle Path not only compiles the daily devotionals but also encompasses some of the heart-stopping events that happened during the first year of the pandemic, including the riots surrounding George Floyd’s untimely death, the church burning in Mississippi, the explosion in Beirut, and many other tragedies and surprises the year held.

The daily devotional also provides a grounding experience for Christians to continue seeking God each day and trusting him to meet them where they are. He doesn’t expect us to be on our best behavior in order to be in relationship with him.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Sep 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9781664275942

Tessa Hughes

Tessa Hughes lives on a farm in rural Alabama and is a practicing attorney in Birmingham. She received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Alabama prior to earning her Juris Doctor at the University of Alabama School of Law and has been a member of the Alabama State Bar since 1993. She and her husband, Joe, have two children and numerous horses and dogs.

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Contents

Foreword

April: The Shutdown

April 1 Did I Not Tell You That If You Believed, You Would See the Glory of God?

April 2 Seek His Face Always

April 3 Believe the Works

April 4 Restore Us

April 5 Stay Awake with Me

April 6 The Mediator of a New Covenant

April 7 A Light to the Nations

April 8 Run With Endurance the Race

April 9 After He Had Washed Their Feet

April 10 It Is the Lord!

April 11 His Own New Tomb

April 12 Do Not Hold on to Me

April 13 My Spirit Rejoices

April 14 Repent and Be Baptized

April 15 In the Breaking of the Bread

April 16 Peace Be with You

April 17 I Will Walk Before the Lord

April 18 Proclaim the Good News

April 19 But God Raised Him from the Dead

April 20 Suffer Grief in All Kinds of Trials

April 21 The Advocate

April 22 Abide in Me

April 23 Accept Authority

April 24 At the Right Hand of God

April 25 Proclaim the Message

April 26 The Love of the Father

April 27 Casting All Your Anxiety on Him

April 28 You Brood of Vipers

April 29 The Bread of Life

April 30 Gather as Much of It as Each of You Needs

May

May 1 I Will Send Him to You

May 2 Your Heart’s Desire

May 3 You Give Them Something to Eat

May 4 Even My Close Friend

May 5 Do Not Judge

May 6 Whoever Wants to Become Great

May 7 When We Were Orphaned

May 8 His Face Was Radiant

May 9 Give to the One Who Begs from You

May 10 Great Cloud of Witnesses

May 11 With the Voice of an Archangel

May 12 Pray Then in This Way

May 13 Do Not Reap to the Very Edges of Your Field

May 14 Strive First for the Kingdom of God

May 15 Ask, and It Will Be Given to You

May 16 The Love of Many Will Grow Cold

May 17 They Will Help You Bear the Burden of the People

May 18 The Year of Jubilee

May 19 The Parable of the Sower

May 20 Do Not Weep

May 21 Help Those Who Are Tempted

May 22 Created in Christ Jesus for Good Works

May 23 A Holy Sanctuary

May 24 The City of the Living God

May 25 Go, As You Have Believed, Let It Be Done for You

May 26 Now He Was Ruddy and Had Beautiful Eyes

May 27 And He Gave Some to Be Apostles; And Some, Prophets

May 28 Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Your Anger

May 29 I Did Not Come to Call the Righteous, but Sinners

May 30 If I Just Touch His Robe

May 31 The Rush of a Violent Wind

June

June 1 Like Treasure Hidden in a Field

June 2 From the Hand of God

June 3 For Everything There is a Season

June 4 Wrangling Over Words

June 5 The Lord Said to My Lord

June 6 But She Out of Her Poverty

June 7 And the Communion of the Holy Spirit

June 8 Awaken the Dawn

June 9 Let Your Light Shine Before Others

June 10 Limping with Two Opinions

June 11 The Kingdom of Heaven Is at Hand

June 12 Proclaim the Good News to the Whole Creation

June 13 Abundant Grace Was Upon Them All

June 14 Much Will Be Demanded

June 15 If You Have Faith the Size of a Mustard Seed

June 16 Go to the Lake and Cast a Hook

June 17 Become as Little Children

June 18 Does He Not Leave the Ninety-Nine

June 19 Unless Every One of You Forgives

June 20 The Two Shall Become One Flesh

June 21 Through the Grace of the Lord Jesus We Shall be Saved

June 22 All Have Sinned and Fall Short

June 23 Do to Others as You Would Have Them Do to You

June 24 The Last Shall Be First

June 25 Hope Does Not Disappoint

June 26 What Do You Want Me to Do for You?

June 27 They Spread Their Cloaks on the Road

June 28 He is Not Served by Human Hands

June 29 For the Time Will Come

June 30 Am I Not Your Donkey?

July

July 1 The Cornerstone

July 2 For Many Are Called, but Few Are Chosen

July 3 O Lord, My Strength and My Redeemer

July 4 The Lord Gives Light to the Eyes of Both

July 5 God Did Extraordinary Miracles

July 6 All Things Work Together for Good

July 7 The Crowds Were Amazed

July 8 The Kingdom of Heaven

July 9 Shake Off the Dust from Your Feet

July 10 Why Have You Forsaken Me?

July 11 One Will Be Taken

July 12 Be Strong and Courageous

July 13 A Sacrifice of Thanksgiving

July 14 For God Has the Power to Graft Them in Again

July 15 Inherit the Kingdom

July 16 We Have Gifts that Differ According to the Grace

July 17 She Has Performed a Good Service for Me

July 18 The Wall of the City Will Fall Down Flat

July 19 The Lord Stood Near

July 20 But to Do Justice

July 21 And He Will Be Upheld

July 22 But Ask the Animals

July 23 Welcome One Another

July 24 He Repented and Brought Back the Thirty Pieces of Silver

July 25 Be Very Careful

July 26 We Will Serve the Lord

July 27 A Mustard Seed

July 28 Wine Mixed with Gall

July 29 The Earth Shook

July 30 Like Clay in the Potter’s Hand

July 31 He Rolled Back the Stone and Sat on It

August

August 1 There Was a Good and Righteous Man

August 2 Go in This Might of Yours

August 3 The Spirit Helps Us in our Weakness

August 4 Here is the Lamb of God

August 5 All at Once an Angel Touched Him

August 6 And His Clothing Became Dazzling White

August 7 My Refuge

August 8 He Drove Them All Out of the Temple

August 9 You Will Be Saved

August 10 But an Angel of the Lord Opened the Doors of the Jail

August 11 Where Two or Three Are Gathered

August 12 Should You Not Also Have Had Mercy

August 13 Rejoice Together

August 14 It Shall Accomplish That Which I Purpose

August 15 Do You Want to Be Made Well?

August 16 O, Lord God, Remember Me

August 17 Lord, Do Not Hold This Sin Against Them

August 18 The Lord Himself Watches Over You

August 19 Your Rod and Your Staff

August 20 So He Got Up and Went

August 21 Prophesy to the Breath

August 22 When We Remembered Zion

August 23 A Prophet Is Not Without Honor, Except in His Hometown

August 24 Heaven Is My Throne

August 25 Woe to You, Scribes and Pharisees

August 26 What God Has Made Clean

August 27 Keep Away from Every Brother or Sister Who is Idle

August 28 The Holy Spirit Fell on All the People Who Were Listening

August 29 Chapter May the Lord Answer You

August 30 And You Will Feel Secure Because There is Hope

August 31 And the Truth Shall Set You Free

September

September 1 The Glorious Splendor

September 2 An Angel of the Lord Struck Him

September 3 The Desires of Your Heart

September 4 That One Be Found Trustworthy

September 5 God Chose What Is Weak

September 6 You are the Salt of the Earth

September 7 The Testing of Your Faith Produces Endurance

September 8 The Lord Values Those Who Fear Him

September 9 So Also Our Consolation Is Abundant Through Christ

September 10 I Am Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

September 11 Give, and It Will Be Given to You

September 12 The Lord Answered Job

September 13 Peace to You Who Were Far Away and Peace to Those Who Were Near

September 14 He Gave His Only Son

September 15 Lazarus, Whom He Had Raised from the Dead

September 16 Whoever Serves Me

September 17 Children of Light

September 18 They Did Not Confess Him

September 19 Bear Fruit with Patience

September 20 Slow to Anger

September 21 That Those Who Enter May See the Light

September 22 You Are My Beloved Son

September 23 Jesus Answered

September 24 The Year of the Lord’s Favor

September 25 Praying in Private

September 26 And Had Given Them Much Encouragement

September 27 Work Out Your Own Salvation with Fear and Trembling

September 28 Whoever Is Not Against You

September 29 Ransomed for God

September 30 Set Your Mind on Things Above

October

October 1 For I Know that My Redeemer Lives

October 2 Whom He Also Named Apostles

October 3 The Seventy Returned with Joy

October 4 Parable of the Vineyard

October 5 Out of the Good Treasure of his Heart

October 6 Lord, Do Good to Those Who Are Good

October 7 I Will Now Rise Up

October 8 Ask, and It Will Be Given to You

October 9 They Shall Beat Their Swords into Ploughshares

October 10 From You Shall Come Forth

October 11 Whatever Is True

October 12 It is for Freedom that Christ Has Set Us Free

October 13 But Jonah Ran Away from the Lord

October 14 For I Have Found My Sheep

October 15 His Glorious Grace

October 16 Not One of Them is Forgotten in the Sight of God

October 17 A Stubborn Mind

October 18 Imitators of Us and of the Lord

October 19 It Is the Gift of God

October 20 Be Dressed for Action

October 21 To Whom Much Has Been Given

October 22 The One Who Showed Him Mercy

October 23 New Heavens and a New Earth

October 24 Equipping the Saints for the Work of Ministry

October 25 Do Not Be Partial to the Poor or Give Preference to the Rich

October 26 Should Not this Woman Be Set Free?

October 27 Submit to One Another

October 28 I Remember Your Name in the Night

October 29 I Know All the Birds of the Mountains

October 30 Grace to You and Peace

October 31 A New Heaven and a New Earth

November

November 1 For the Lamb Will Be Their Shepherd

November 2 And So We Will Be with the Lord Forever

November 3 That They All May Be One

November 4 Shine Like Stars in the World

November 5 Through the Narrow Door

November 6 Jerusalem, Jerusalem

November 7 I Can Do All Things through Him Who Strengthens Me

November 8 Especially That You May Prophesy

November 9 Someone Who is Blameless

November 10 I am a Fellow Servant with You

November 11 Is Not This the Fast That I Choose

November 12 The Kingdom of God Is in the Midst of You

November 13 But Be Doers of the Word

November 14 Not to Lose Heart

November 15 The Day of the Lord Is at Hand

November 16 But No Man Can Tame the Tongue

November 17 Today Salvation Has Come to this House

November 18 Jesus, Have Mercy on Us

November 19 For Where Your Treasure Is, There Your Heart Will Be Also

November 20 So That There May Be Food in My House

November 21 The One Who Humbles Himself Will Be Exalted

November 22 Through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

November 23 The Earth Is the Lord’s

November 24 You Are God’s Temple

November 25 According to the Riches of His Grace

November 26 In Everything Give Thanks

November 27 You May Abound in Hope

November 28 Lest Your Hearts Be Weighed Down

November 29 A Vine Out of Egypt

November 30 And I will Make You Fish for People

December

December 1 And a Little Child Shall Lead Them

December 2 The Lord Is My Shepherd

December 3 The Good News of Your Faith

December 4 Sit at My Right Hand

December 5 This Is the Way

December 6 With the Lord, One Day Is Like a Thousand Years

December 7 Put on the Breastplate of Faith and Love

December 8 God Will Shine Forth

December 9 He Who Is without Sin Among You

December 10 Fear Not, I Will Help You

December 11 And Shall Name Him Immanuel

December 12 Strengthen Your Brothers

December 13 You Have Not Come to Something that Can Be Touched

December 14 You Must Make Every Effort to Support Your Faith

December 15 For a Child Has Been Born for Us

December 16 A Wise Man Built His House on Rock

December 17 Blessed Are You Among Women

December 18 Create in Me a Clean Heart

December 19 Pray in the Holy Spirit

December 20 For God So Loved the World

December 21 But We Are Not Among Those Who Shrink Back

December 22 See, the Home of God Is Among Mortals

December 23 Here Am I, the Servant of the Lord

December 24 To Give Light to Those Who Sit in Darkness

December 25 For Lo, I Will Come and Dwell in Your Midst

December 26 Full of Grace and Power

December 27 In the Beginning Was the Word

December 28 If It Is My Will

December 29 Rachel Weeping for Her Children

December 30 Then All the Trees of the Woods Will Rejoice

December 31 Now Then, We Are Ambassadors for Christ

January

January 1 But Mary Treasured Up All These Things

January 2 Now Faith Is the Assurance of Things Hoped For

January 3 They Were Overwhelmed with Joy

January 4 Do Not Let Anyone Lead You Astray

January 5 Let Us Run with Perseverance the Race

January 6 The News of the Boundless Riches of Christ

January 7 Do Whatever He Tells You

January 8 Come Away and Rest a While

January 9 To the One Who Conquers I Will Also Give the Morning Star

January 10 You Are My Beloved Son

January 11 Who Has Directed the Spirit of the Lord

January 12 They Will Mount Up with Wings Like Eagles

January 13 And This Is the Promise that He Made to Us: Eternal Life

January 14 When Jesus Saw Their Faith

January 15 I Have Become a Servant

January 16 I Have Come to Call Not the Righteous but Sinners

January 17 A Sure and Steadfast Anchor of the Soul

January 18 And on This Rock I Will Build My Church

January 19 You Will Ask for What You Desire, and It Shall Be Done for You

January 20 Be Imitators of God

January 21 Trust in the Lord

January 22 He Did Not Create It a Chaos

January 23 And Love with Faith

January 24 Get Up and Go to Nineveh

January 25 Go, For He is an Instrument

January 26 That We Should Remember the Poor

January 27 I Live by Faith in the Son of God

January 28 Let Both of Them Grow Together Until the Harvest

January 29 They Saw Him Walking on the Sea

January 30 You Are All One in Christ Jesus

January 31 Teaching Them as One Who Had Authority

February

February 1 For My Eyes Have Seen Your Salvation

February 2 You Will Know the Truth

February 3 Sing to the Lord

February 4 The Holy Spirit Fell upon Them

February 5 The Lord Is My Helper

February 6 Let Us Work for the Good of All

February 7 I Dwell in the High and Holy Place

February 8 And as Many as Touched It Were Made Well

February 9 You Have Made Him but Little Lower than the Angels

February 10 For It Is to Such as These That the Kingdom of God Belongs

February 11 Jesus Christ, Whom Having Not Seen, You Love

February 12 The True Light Is Already Shining

February 13 Take Heart; Get Up, He Is Calling You

February 14 The Lord Our God, the Lord is One!

February 15 I Will Listen to What God Will Say

February 16 The Pioneer of their Salvation

February 17 Oh Come, Let Us Sing to the Lord!

February 18 I Am the True Vine

February 19 New Wine Is Put into Fresh Wineskins

February 20 You Will See Greater Things than These

February 21 I Have Set My Bow in the Cloud

February 22 You Shall Not Defraud Your Neighbor

February 23 And I Will Give You the Crown of Life

February 24 Upon Which You Have Caused Me to Hope

February 25 God Did Not Send His Son into the World to Condemn the World

February 26 What Does the Lord Your God Require of You?

February 27 To Draw Near to Listen

February 28 Do Not Say, I Am Too Young.

March

March 1 For Here the Saying Holds True, One Sows and Another Reaps.

March 2 Come Now, Let Us Argue It Out

March 3 You Have No Excuse, Whoever You Are, When You Judge Others

March 4 Have Mercy on Me

March 5 Let Us Shout Joyfully

March 6 So That Peter’s Shadow Might Fall on Them

March 7 And He Would Have Given You Living Water

March 8 Wash, and Be Clean

March 9 I Will Open My Mouth with a Parable

March 10 I Am the Light of the World

March 11 I Pour Out My Soul

March 12 You Will Be Free Indeed

March 13 All My Springs Are in You

March 14 Lord, I Believe

March 15 So, He Himself Believed

March 16 God Is in the Midst of Her

March 17 Yet I Do Not Forget Your Commandments

March 18 For in Hope We Were Saved

March 19 Who Will Separate Us from the Love of Christ?

March 20 One Thing I Have Desired of the Lord

March 21 I Do It All for the Sake of the Gospel

March 22 Who Indeed Are You, a Human Being, to Argue with God?

March 23 And Perhaps Grope for Him and Find Him

March 24 My Soul Waits for the Lord

March 25 For You Have Found Favor with God

March 26 To Give You a Future with Hope

March 27 For I Will Forgive Their Iniquity and Remember Their Sin No More

March 28 Blessed Is the One Who Comes in the Name of the Lord!

March 29 But You Do Not Always Have Me

March 30 And What Should I Say, Father, Save Me From This Hour?

March 31 Very Truly, I Tell You, One of You Will Betray Me

Epilogue: Easter 2021

April 1 This Cup Is the New Covenant in my Blood

April 2 The Righteous One, My Servant, Shall Make Many Righteous

April 3 For It Is Obvious to All That a Notable Sign Has Been Done Through Them

April 4 This Jesus God Raised Up

I gratefully acknowledge all the brilliant writers, speakers, and

teachers I have quoted herein who have generously lent us their time,

inspiration, and insight into God. If I have failed to give someone

credit for published material in error, I apologize in advance and

will happily make a correction in a subsequent edition.

For Joe, you

make every day brighter.

And for my reunion group, Lori, Suzan, Gretchen, Phyllis, and Bonner.

Without each of you, this book would not have come

to pass, as you have been steadfast believers.

And for Bertha Thrasher, whom God loved.

Foreword

In the days immediately following the sweep of COVID-19 across America in late March 2020, I was surprised to find that, after almost thirty years of spending every day in an office as a practicing attorney, I was going to be working remotely for the foreseeable future. I was also terrified of the virus, its possible death-dealing impact, and its unpredictable effects on our economy, as my husband, Joe, and I, along with the rest of the globe, prepared to shelter-in-place. However, I soon realized that I had gained an easy two hours a day in that I no longer had a lengthy drive from the horse farm I share with Joe to my office. I began to ponder what I could do with that extra time each day, and I could hear my heart whispering that I should write a daily devotional.

This book is a compilation of the devotionals I wrote each day during the unfolding of the pandemic, and it encompasses some of the heart-stopping events that happened during the first year of the pandemic, including the riots surrounding George Floyd’s untimely death, the church burning in Mississippi, the explosion in Beirut, and many other tragedies and surprises the year had in store for us. In penning the devotionals, I largely followed the Episcopal Church’s Daily Lectionary, as provided at Episcopal Monthly Church Calendar (satucket.com). Many mornings, I also relied heavily on the commentaries of the well-read James Kiefer, who compiled many interesting facts regarding the saint(s) commemorated on the day of the month. Many of these devotionals were first published on the Facebook page, The Miracle Path. You can find them there with the photographs or artwork that originally accompanied each.

Editorial Note: As I reached the one-year mark of writing, I decided to print the devotional series running from April 1, 2020, to April 4, 2021, which is rather unorthodox, but God is unorthodox. This editorial method also allowed me to encompass two Easter seasons, which is what was most important to me, as I wanted to close this little book on the happiest note by reminding us all of the gift our Lord gave us on Easter: eternal life.

April: The Shutdown

Take delight in the LORD,

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the LORD;

trust in him and he will do this.

—PSALM 37:4–5 (NIV)

As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood

among them, and said to them, Peace to you!

—LUKE 24:36 (ESV)

April 1

DID I NOT TELL YOU THAT IF YOU BELIEVED,

YOU WOULD SEE THE GLORY OF GOD?

Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days. Jesus said to her, Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God? So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me. When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out! The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, Unbind him, and let him go.

—JOHN 11:38–44 (NRSV)

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In the Gospel, Jesus finds Martha in her anguish, mourning her recently dead brother, and asks her a hard question: Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God? I think he asks this same question of me too when I am grappling with fear and anguish. At night, in bed, anxiety grabs me, twisting me into knots with questions: What are you going to do if illness takes Joe? If it happens during this pandemic, you’ll have to let him go to the hospital alone and rely upon the kindness of strangers. You’ll be all alone on this farm. He won’t make it if you are not there to watch over him. And then you’ll be alone forever in your grief.

Jesus asks me, as he asks all of us, Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?

And I ask, What does that mean, Lord? How does that help me?

Here is how his question helps us. Once Jesus asks Martha this question, scripture does not record her answer. I do not think she had one. Instead, she acted—she ensured they obeyed his directive to take away the stone (John 38:41). And that is when she and the others were then able to see the miracle. Jesus then acted, crying out, Lazarus, come out (John 38:43). So, the path of miracles is clear, Jesus acts once we believe and follow his instruction. The miracle path is thus always this: (1) believe; and (2) follow God.

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Lord, please give us the faith to believe your promises and the courage to follow your commands.

April 2

SEEK HIS FACE ALWAYS

Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.

—PSALM 105:4 (NIV)

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My husband and I have a horse farm, and sometimes I go into the pasture at night to check on the horses. It is a strange feeling to be walking on ground that is so familiar in daylight but at night is suddenly foreign. I am forced to stop relying on my sense of sight since it is of little help to me; instead, I rely upon my sense of touch as my feet seek the ground ahead of me. I am also afraid of snakes and recently read an article about how some venomous snakes may come out of their hiding places at night and rest on top of the ground. So, not only do I have a fear of falling in the darkness, I also have a newfound fear of stepping on a sleeping snake and getting bitten.

As I walk carefully in the darkness, intent on my mission of checking on the horses and hoping not to tread on a sleeping snake, it helps me to ask God to watch over me. I look to the Lord and his strength (Psalm 105:4 NIV) because I can no longer completely rely on my own sense of direction or strength. I have learned that I do step more carefully and lean more heavily on God when the path is rocky or uneven, when there is darkness, and when I fear things hurting me. And although walking in the dark pasture is a literal example of leaning on God when I feel unsure, I think we are all in figurative darkness sometimes, as well. It is just as important, when we are in that figurative darkness, to also look to the Lord and his strength and seek his face always (Psalm 105:4 NIV).

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Lord, in dark times, whether actual or figurative, we must search for you and your strength by always seeking your face.

April 3

BELIEVE THE WORKS

If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.

—JOHN 10:37–38 (ESV)

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Jesus tells the Jewish leaders, Even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father (John 10:37–38 ESV). It astonishes me that although many of them saw the miracles Jesus had performed, they still did not believe he was the Son of God. If someone turned water into wine and told you they were the Son of God, would you believe? If someone brought another person back from death and told you they were the Son of God, would you believe? It seems incredible that these leaders were eyewitnesses to this miraculous power and still chose not to believe. And it is also startling today that we read the evidence of Jesus’s miracles, and sometimes we still do not believe. Choose instead, today, whatever comes your way, to believe the works and believe in God.

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Jesus, when we see the works of your hands, the miracles you do and have done, we believe you are the Son of God, and we put our trust in you as our salvation.

April 4

RESTORE US

Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us. Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations? Will you not revive us again so that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your steadfast love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation.

—PSALM 85:4–7 (NRSV)

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A friend once said, When things are going badly, and you don’t know which way to turn, read the psalms. David felt very lost when he wrote some of them, and yet he still cried out to the Lord.

Today’s psalm is a wonderful psalm to read in this difficult time of fear regarding a pandemic. The psalmist reminds God of how he has been gracious to the Israelites and restored their good fortunes in the past. He asks God to please restore them again and let the Lord’s anger depart from them.

As we wake up each day to new, terrible statistics—as well as reports of confinement and lack of adequate supplies and food—it is hard to stay focused on God. But David stayed focused by writing the psalms. And we can stay focused as well by crying out to God, as David did, and asking him for relief and mercy. God alone can grant us [his] salvation (Psalm 85:7 NRSV), and he will.

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Lord, we ask you to restore our good fortune, give us life again, and grant us salvation.

April 5

STAY AWAKE WITH ME

Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, So, could you not stay awake with me one hour? Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

—MATTHEW 26:40–41 (NRSV)

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Years ago, I took part in a church Easter vigil, and I sat with the host for an hour in darkness between 4:00 and 5:00 a.m. As I sat in the chapel alone, I was astonished at how still and quiet everything was and how restful it was to be sitting with the Lord alone. However, I was a little uneasy because, as I sat there, I thought about the Garden of Gethsemane and how alone and miserable Christ must have felt that night, knowing his torture and death awaited him. All he asked of Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, after telling them how miserable he was, was to remain with him and stay awake with [him] (Matthew 26:40 NRSV). Jesus knew, because he was human, that his misery might be slightly eased if his friends might at least stay awake with him during the night.

I wonder if this is not one of the hardest parts of this pandemic: the awful knowledge that if we become ill or our spouse or child becomes ill, we will be alone in our misery, like Jesus, with not even our friends to sit with us. However, Jesus does come and sit beside us in our misery; he doesn’t leave us alone in our dark night in the garden. So, know if you fear the dark night, Jesus is already there with his shoulder pressed up to yours, waiting to share your burden with you.

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Jesus, even though we fail you sometimes, you never fail us. Please help us not be so fearful.

April 6

THE MEDIATOR OF A NEW COVENANT

But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

—HEBREWS 9:11–12, 15 (NIV)

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I have often struggled to understand how I can be forgiven by God for my many sins. This provision in Hebrews explains that process for us. Jesus Christ, who was without sin offered himself through the Holy Spirit, to purify us so we might worship God. This salvation is a process that is filled with the mystery and majesty and sacrifice of God, yet it is painstakingly simple. Christ willingly died to save us from our sins and secure our salvation. And because Christ stands outside time, as we fail and fall short of the glory of God again and again, Christ dies, again and again, and saves us, over and over. He is the mediator of the new covenant and secures our salvation with his own death.

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Jesus, we are ever thankful for the gift of our salvation, that you died for our sins, and that you secured our salvation.

April 7

A LIGHT TO THE NATIONS

And now the LORD says, who formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honored in the sight of the LORD, and my God has become my strength— he says, It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.

—ISAIAH 49:5–6 (NRSV)

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The prophet Isaiah was talking about Jesus when he spoke the above words. The wording is almost ironic when God says of Jesus, It is too light a thing that you should … raise up the tribes of Jacob and … restore … Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. God’s power and majesty are so great that it is too little to just save the Israelites, and so He is sending Jesus to save all nations. This passage is a comfort to me to know, even though I am a Gentile, Jesus Christ also died to save me. His salvation was intended and ordained even for sinners like me.

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Dear Lord, help me remember that I, poor sinner though I am, am also saved through Christ.

April 8

RUN WITH ENDURANCE THE RACE

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

—HEBREWS 12:1–3 (ESV)

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This passage seems fitting for these difficult days when each morning we awaken to a new reality. It is hard to adjust to a seemingly never-ending litany of bad news. However, Paul also had to awaken to many days of very bad news, yet he wrote these encouraging words. He tells us to lay aside all the weight and sin that cling to us and run with endurance the race set before us. He tells us to run that race by looking to Jesus as a model. He ran his race for joy. Jesus faced some really bad news too, yet he did not falter. Paul exhorts us to always consider Jesus and not grow weary or lose heart.

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Dear Jesus, in these days of wearying and seemingly ceaseless bad news, please walk with us and show us your example, so that we do not grow weary or lose heart.

April 9

AFTER HE HAD WASHED THEIR FEET

After he had washed their feet,