By Katy Mariotti

Steadfast Love

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
Return, O Lord! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.”
Psalm 90:12-14 English Standard Version

My son’s birthday is on September 11. He was born a couple weeks before his due date so I did not even consider that as a possibility, but that’s when he was born! It bothered me a little at first.  September 11 is a day in history that was covered in tragedy, suffering, grief, and loss. I do not want to think of the birth of my son, who is full of joy and light and brings so much happiness to our lives, associated with that same day!

But as the years have passed, the joy has overcome the sadness. To our family, September 11 is a day to celebrate our beautiful boy. Of course that doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten what happened in 2001, there is just something that for us, right now, is more personal.

I really love Psalm 90, and I encourage you to read the whole thing. It talks about time, how it keeps passing. How things start fresh and then wither and decay. That sounds depressing, but it’s also truth. What I love about the psalm is that at the end, it is an ask for God to renew us constantly, and to make us glad and use us for His work regardless of the decay of life. It’s not a promise that bad things won’t happen, and that challenging times won’t arise. It’s a message of hope that through it all, God’s love is steadfast.

And in the New Testament, we hear from Jesus about just that.

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33 ESV

I thank the Lord today for His goodness, for His steadfast love, and for granting us peace and gladness amidst trouble. Amen!

Copyright Family of Christ Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado