Today is Tuesday the 2nd of January, and we are embarking on a journey as we begin 2024 thinking about a daily pursuit: a pursuit to love God, love others, love the world. Each day this week, we are considering one of the six practices at the heart of Lectio 365 that put these loves into action. Today we are reflecting on the justice of God.
Together we will pray (P.R.A.Y.) very simply each day – ‘P’: PAUSING to be still. ‘R’: REJOICING with a Psalm and REFLECTING on a Scripture. ‘A’: ASKING God to help us and others and ‘Y’: YIELDING to His will in our lives, come what may.
As I enter prayer now, I pause to be still; to breathe slowly, to re-centre my scattered senses upon the presence of God.
Holy Spirit, You make all things new. Awaken my heart to dream new dreams in this new year. I set aside any baggage or worries I have been carrying, releasing my heavy load, and finding home in Your presence. I breathe in Your pursuing love towards me.
I choose to rejoice in God’s protective love for all creation today, joining with the ancient praise of all God’s people in the words of Psalm 36…
Your unfailing love, O LORD, is as vast as the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your justice like the ocean depths.
You care for people and animals alike, O LORD.
Today I am reflecting on the way the whole world longs for the glory of God, pausing to listen to one of the ancient songs of David:
Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
let the field exult, and everything in it!
Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy
before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth.
Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!
This song of thanksgiving proclaims a joyful expectation of the justice of God coming to judge the earth. Why is this good news? Because He is good, and His love endures forever. The justice of God does not only correct, it also restores. True justice is ‘the manifestation of God’s grace’.*
As I wrestle with continuing injustice in my life and world, I sit in the tension of what feels unfair, and remember the words of seventeeth century mystic, Madame Jeanne Guyon:
If knowing answers to life’s questions is absolutely necessary to you, then forget the journey. You will never make it, for this is a journey of unknowables—of unanswered questions, enigmas, incomprehensibles, and most of all, things unfair.**
I ask Jesus for more of His presence with me in the unfair, crying out and longing for the justice and kingdom of God to come in my life and community. Show me how to be a person who carries the justice of God’s grace today.
I think of a friend or family member experiencing a cycle of injustice, remembering the pain of a raw story I have witnessed.
I pray for this friend, and ask that they would experience the delivering, restoring, justice-bringing salvation of Jesus Christ.
I return to the words of David, written as a song of thanksgiving to the God of eternal justice…
Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
let the field exult, and everything in it!
Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy
before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth.
Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!
Justice arrives like a roar; it halts the decline and despair of a world in pain and utters the proclamation that our God reigns. I pray for a roar of God’s presence, kindness, and power to be released through my life.
I move my body (if I’m able) and shake off the dust of sleep and apathy.
Holy Spirit, roar Your kindness through my life in this new year. Make me whole-hearted in seeing the places of need in my world, and open my hands, heart, and wallet to be generous in Your name.
And now, as I prepare to take this time of prayer into the coming day, the Lord who loves me says in Revelation:
“Don’t fear: I am First, I am Last, I’m Alive. I died, but I came to life, and my life is now forever.”
Father, help me to live this day to the full,
being true to You, in every way.
Jesus, help me to give myself away to others,
being kind to everyone I meet.
Spirit, help me to love the lost,
proclaiming Christ in all I do and say.
Amen.
* Herman Bavinck, John Bolt (Editor), and John Vriend (Translator), Reformed Dogmatics – God and Creation, volume 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2004), p. 224.
** Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717), https://www.catholicstoreroom.com/tag/jeanne-guyon/
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