Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“And now, if it seems good to the king, have a search made in the royal archives there in Babylon, to see whether a decree was issued by King Cyrus for the rebuilding of this house of God in Jerusalem. Let the king send us his pleasure in this matter.”
NL Daily Devotion for Thursday, December 21, 2023
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Regimes change. The circumstances of our lives shift, challenges ebb and flow, and the fact of change is the only guarantee. After being forced to stop working on the temple in Jerusalem, the Jews appealed to the new king, Darius, and reminded him that it was his predecessor, Xerxes who originally decreed that they could build it, and would he please seek the original decree that proves it. Darius, in fact, does, and re-grants permission for the project to go forward.
While some of us do face challenges that aren’t easily resolved, much of the time the issues we deal with are time limited. Life course-corrects, sometimes all of itself, sometimes through dedicated action on our parts, sometimes with outside help. In the moment of difficulty, it can seem like this is going to be the way it always is. It’s scary. But in my own experience, I have found that nothing is forever, especially not the lows and frustrations. I trust that God has my back and will be there to sustain me until the tide turns.
How does it feel when a seemingly impossible challenge finally resolves?
