Sometimes it may feel as though God has deserted us, but we must remain faithful and steadfast in prayer Ceilon Aspensen, February 10, 2024February 10, 2024 The most important message I picked up from today’s readings overall is sometimes it may feel as though God has deserted us, but we must remain faithful and steadfast in prayer. My primary takeaway from each of the passages was this: Exodus 31 & 32: A day of rest from our work each week is the essential. Also, humans have short attention spans and often don’t take responsibility for their actions. Mark 13: No one knows when their faith will be put to the test, so be vigilant in the faith and stay awake. Psalms 41: Sometimes it may feel as though God has deserted us. It is during these times that we must be the most faithful and steadfast in prayer. Proverbs 10: Lots of advice and indicators about what it looks like to be vigilant in the faith and wait patiently for God’s plan to unfold. In Exodus, we see that humans have short attention spans. Moses goes up to the top of the mountain to receive God’s instructions for the people, but when he is gone for what they feel like is too long, they forget all the good things God has done for them, and they ask Aaron to make them a golden calf to worship. He succumbs to the pressure and does it, because while Aaron might be a great mouthpiece for Moses, he is not a great leader. When Moses gets back, instead of owning his actions, he tries to shift responsibility for what he did by saying that a golden calf spontaneously formed itself out of all of the gold objects they heaped on the fire. Moses punishes the people responsible for leading others astray and for pressuring Aaron into making them a golden calf, and then heads back up the mountain to get another set of tablets. In Mark 13, Jesus speaks a lot about prophecy that we can’t possibly understand. Many have tried to sort out exactly what he was talking about, but Jesus himself says, “But as for the day or the hour, nobody knows it, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son; no one but the Father.” The clear message here is that figuring out the details of the prophecy is not important. What is important is being vigilant in the faith at all times so we are prepared for whatever may come our way. In today’s Psalm we see the prayer of someone who felt as though God had deserted him, just like the Israelites waiting for Moses to return from the mountain. Todays Proverb provides us with what it can sometimes look like to be vigilant in the faith and wait patiently for God’s plan to unfold. Both chapters reflect the sum of the human condition. A lot of what we do here during our lifetimes is wait for direction and instructions. In those situations, all we can do is pass the time gracefully, living our lives with wisdom, patience, and in peace. That’s what I got out of it. What did you get out of the readings today? To participate in a discussion about the posts, please join us in our private Facebook group that I set up specifically for sharing what we take-away from the readings each day. If you haven’t gotten the FREE “Read the Bible in a Year” worksheet yet, you can download it here. It is not necessary for you to start on January 1st–you can start from the beginning on whatever date you get the worksheet. Join us! Learn more about why I read the Bible all the way through every year, and feel free to share with anyone you think could benefit. This post is part of the series, “Read the Bible in a Year.” To see other posts in this series, go to the Chronological Index of Read the Bible in a Year Posts. ——————————————————— * Please follow and like us: Read the Bible in a Year Spiritual Practice