Mark 6:13 (“There Will Be A Day”) by Jason Peters

03 Feb Mark 6:13 (“There Will Be A Day”) by Jason Peters

Jason’s Reflections: It seems so simple. In reading the Gospels, we hear of so many being healed. I’m sure that many of us have had times in our life when we prayed for something in hopes of a simple solution. In my experience, the answers we get are not always that simple. We pray for a relationship that needs Jesus’s intervention only to see it torn apart. We pray for an end to abortion, only to see the horror continue. Are our prayers in vain? Does God hear us? I wanted to write a devotion that centered on something other than my son JP, and the struggles he and our family face with his health issues. However, when I read the Gospel for today and the devotions from last week, it helped me understand that what JP and our family is going through is truly an example that our prayers are not in vain. On Monday Rich wrote, “When you feel that everything seems to be happening to you (poor health, unemployment, troubled marriage, etc.), KEEP THE FAITH; for the Lord knows our suffering and ‘protects the loyal’.” On Tuesday Rob shared the conversion story of Saul and how we all suffer for Jesus’s name. On Wednesday Pat reminded us that for 38 years Christians have unified, marched, and prayed to reverse Roe vs. Wade. On Thursday Todd shared, “The pieces of our lives that are woeful are often like those piles of junk…examining them more closely and using the grace God gives us, we can find out where they fit into His plan for us.” On Friday Steve wrote, “Let us embrace these trials today and give thanks to God; for it is these very trials, when bore patiently and with endurance, that will prepare us for life eternal with the Father.” I believe this is why sometimes our loved ones suffer. This is why we continue to cry out to Jesus. This is why, even when we cannot see the victory, we know we are winning! The Holy Spirit brought me these reminders that the suffering that JP bears is not in vain. May the Holy Spirit continue to work in all of us as we offer up our sufferings for the Body of Christ…