[re]imagine Lent: 3/16/2023
We encourage you to sign up for the 40-40-40 Lenten Challenge, a challenge with our partner Southeastern Iowa Synod to participate in Lenten practices, including these daily devotions. Just signing up counts as participation! More info here.
“But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.””
Being open to God’s vision can be something of an enigma for me. I don’t know about you, but I often start to dream, plan, pray about, and imagine how a certain thing might turn out. Whether it’s a reorganization of my perpetually unorganized mudroom closet or the plan for a large-scale project, I can sometimes get caught up in my own dreams, wishes, and – well – my own desires. But often I find that my own sight is short-sighted and that God has something even bigger in store.
After Samuel had such a bad experience with anointing Saul as king, I’m sure he had a vision for the kind of king God would surely choose next. His vision included (according to other verses in 1 Samuel 16) appearance, height, and stature, but God reminded Samuel that rather than outward appearance, God looks on the heart.
Our vision ultimately becomes belief, which in turn becomes action. The question I wonder about is whosevision am I enacting. God reminds us time and again that God’s vision is not our vision. And, because God is loving, merciful, and just, we can fully trust that God’s vision creates something even more than we can imagine. Samuel saw a tiny shepherd, God saw a king. The disciples saw five loaves and two fish, God saw a feast. We see a cross, suffering, and death, God saw life. As we venture ever closer to that cross, may God grant you the vision to see life beyond the grave.
Prayer
God, help me to see with ready and willing eyes what it is that you see. Help my sight turn into belief, and turn my belief into action, that following your vision for a world of mercy, peace, and love, I might follow where you lead, through the messiness of death, to the everlasting light of your resurrection dawn. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Journal Prompt
We, humans, are constantly casting visions: how we want our life to look in 3, 5, or 20 years. How our companies can impact the world. How our congregation can best live into its mission. Yet how often do we allow God to shift or change that vision? Do we ever stop to wonder if God has something in store that we haven’t even imagined?
This week I invite you to think about your life, your work, or your congregation. How do you listen for God’s vision? How do you know if your current trajectory aligns with that vision? What has felt extra messy or difficult, and might that be God’s Spirit at work?
Week Four Devotions by Rev. Erika Uthe, uthe@seiasynod.org