Create a peaceful space to pause, and allow yourself to feel God’s presence alongside you, as near to you as your own breath. In following the reflection below, as a church we will draw closer to God and to one another as we grow in faith and deepen our sense of belonging to God.
Deuteronomy 31: 2-3,7-8 ‘Joshua Becomes Moses’ Successor’
2 Moses said to them: ‘I am now a hundred and twenty years old. I am no longer able to get about, and the Lord has told me, “You shall not cross over the Jordan.” 3 The Lord your God himself will cross over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua also will cross over before you, as the Lord promised.’ 7 Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel: ‘Be strong and bold, for you are the one who will go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their ancestors to give them; and you will put them in possession of it. 8 It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.’
There was a lot in the news recently about a man full of character who raised an amazing £31 million for the NHS around his 100th birthday. The original target that Captain Tom Moore (now an honorary Colonel) set out to achieve was just £1,000, but the final result exceeded his wildest dreams.
We’re told that Moses was 120 when he died, which would mean he was already 80 years old when he led the Children of Israel out of Egypt, through the waters of the Red Sea. His 100th birthday came as he was leading the Israelites through the wilderness to the land that God had promised them. When they finally arrived within sight of that land, after 40 hard years of journeying. and just the river Jordan lay between them and their destination, God told Moses “You shall not cross over this Jordan”.
After all his years of leadership, all his face-to-face encounters with God, after all his run-ins with the Hebrew people, after journeying for so long, Moses would have had every reason to feel angry and upset that he would never enter the promised land. But no, his first thought was for his people. We’re told that his immediate words to them were, “Be strong and bold; the Lord will be with you; he will not fail or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
They are words for us today. However the coronavirus has changed our world, whatever is happening to us, to our friends and loved ones in our lives, the Lord will be with us and will not fail or forsake us. We do not need to fear or be dismayed, we can be bold and strong.
Prayer:
God our Father,
We give thanks that you are always with us, that you will never fail or forsake us.
We pray for people who are unaware of your presence with them
and ask that you show us how to help them in their fear and distress.
We ask that, like Moses, we may think first of other people and their needs,
however valid our reasons might seem for putting self first.
We pray for all in our world who are suffering at this time
and lift to you all who are working so hard to care for the sick and vulnerable.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Reflection and Prayer © 2020 Ann Caffyn.
Image freely available online.
A printable version of this Daily Devotional can be downloaded from here
All material within this order of worship is reproduced by permission under CCL 1226356