A Concord Pastor Comments: Pause for Prayer: SATURDAY 3/22

The truth is, Lord,
- at least from my perspective -
the truth is that you're

   unpredictable, inconsistent,
   kind to some but not to others,
   curiously unfair

and generally slow in returning calls...

That is often

- again, from my perspective -

how I see you...

I never know just what you'll do next
or what you'll decline to do
or, frankly, if you really do much of anything at all!

Yes, there are times when it seems

when you're right by my side

and have my back
but there are other times

when I just can't seem to find you:
it's like you've gone away...

And, true enough,

I do see signs of your kindness

almost everywhere I turn
- but -

I also see illness and pain,

injustice and poverty

crime and abuse,

terrorism and war...

I see many who hunger, many who thirst
for a sign of your love, a touch of your care
in the midst of their hardships,

their worries and fears

- and it just seems so unfair, Lord,

so often so unfair...

All this, Lord, and still

I pray, I ask, I plead
- but as I said,

you're slow in returning my calls...

I still believe in you, Lord,
even when I don't understand you,
when I find it near impossible
to discern the frustrating mystery
of how you move and act in my life

and in the world at large...

I still believe, Lord,
that you're perfect
   in every possible way;
that you are faithful
in all your words and deeds;
that you never, even for a moment,
   forget my name or leave my side;
and that your generous kindness
    waits for all your sons and daughters...