Lent Week Five—Tuesday
Psalm 122 Jeremiah 25:8-17 Romans 10:1-13 John 9:13-41
What Are We Seeking and Where Are We Seeking It?
Psalm 122 urges us to pray for peace. In our present world there is a critical need to pray for peace. I am drawn to the Prayers of the People in The Book of Common Prayer and believe wholeheartedly in the power of unified prayers. Forms I through VI all include prayers for peace in our community, the nation, and the world. There is no doubt that the world needs our fervent prayers, but what about the peace within each of us? Every Sunday, we offer each other a sign of peace and wish each other “God’s Peace” but is God’s peace something we actively yearn for within ourselves? I find clear direction in Psalm 122:8-9 where the Psalmist says, “May peace be within you” and to “seek your good.”
I love where that spotlight is shining…within us. No circumstance, disappointment, unpleasant encounter, fear, nor tribulation is a match for God’s peace, which is “beyond all understanding” (Philippians 4:7). Christ has freely given this gift of His peace to us, but it so easily drowned out by the din of life. Psalm 122 holds the key to His peace by instructing us to seek God’s good, not only for our sake, but also for the sake of our friends and family. It is all too easy to seek things, answers, or outcomes that are not focused on God’s good but our own personal justification. Those selfish searches predictably lead me to disappointment or regret.
God’s peace within us never leaves. He has granted it to us in abundance. Lent offers me a time to focus on God’s gift of peace, to seek it, to recognize it, and try to claim it as my first reaction in daily life.
-Clare Nelson
The Carpenter's Nail 