Love and faithfulness meet together...

Beloved of God,

    I want to name the fact that we’re moving through a pretty high-anxiety national moment. I imagine that looks a little different for each of us, and I also imagine we are all handling it a little differently. Those of you with deep political loyalties might be feeling a different kind of strain than those of you who are unnerved by the national rise in COVID. Some of you may be feeling the strain of both. Others of you are dealing with the concerns of your own situation that have only to do with your unique hurts and cares.
    All of this is part of why I love that we are reading Psalm 85 this Sunday. Psalm 85 gives us one of the most beautiful pictures of Shalom that I know:
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Love and faithfulness meet together;
    righteousness and peace kiss each other.
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Faithfulness springs forth from the earth,
    and righteousness looks down from heaven.
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The Lord will indeed give what is good,
    and our land will yield its harvest.
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Righteousness goes before him
    and prepares the way for his steps.

    Shalom usually gets translated as “peace” but it’s a thicker concept than that. Shalom is peace that spills out and over. Shalom is completion, wholeness, the world set right. And Psalm 85 guides us into this picture of Shalom as something deeper than just a hopeful optimism. There’s a confidence here. We can expect these things because of who God is.
    Slow down a little. Weigh your cares against God’s Shalom. I promise you, there is nothing so heavy as to tip that scale away from such a sure and sturdy peace, even if you see the scale wobble a little. The Lord will indeed give what is good, even if you can’t see it over the top of your own concerns. It is who He is.

Please join me in praying this week for:

• An end to this pandemic
  
• Peace and justice in this country as we receive results from federal, state and local elections.
• Doctors, Nurses, Paramedics and other healthcare professionals working in these days for our common good.
• Those who are suffering quietly; may we see them and care for them.
• In praise for the good and extremely creative work of those involved in our church’s ministries.
• Those who are lonely.
• Those dealing with stresses, changes, and griefs made harder by this season.
• Each other (please email [email protected] if you’d like to be added to our prayer list).

You are the salt of the earth; you are the light of the world,

Marshall