by Pastor Douglas Brauner
…Is the Power of God.”
I am writing this devotion the day before I have back surgery. I’ve been a meanie to the devotional writers this month. I asked them to finish their July devotions before I had the procedure. They all complied for which I’m grateful. However, the one person who was the last to complete these devotions was, you guessed it, me.
As you might presume, life has been crazy as I prepare for surgery. At the same time as I’m getting ready, our granddaughter was born and there has been much wonderful commotion surrounding her birth. So, I’m scatter brained as I write this devotion. My thoughts are swirling. Anxiety even affected my devotion time today.
As I attempted to engage in my devotions this morning, I used this picture and saw something that I had not seen before.
When we visited London in September, we toured the Tower of London. In honor of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, workers spread nearly 30,000 ceramic poppies throughout the grounds. This is just a small portion of them.
They formed a red cross that passes through the gate.
“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
1 Corinthians 1:18 English Standard Version
In this verse I hear Paul’s simple but powerful message, “The word of the cross…is the power of God.” The word of Jesus’ suffering, his sacrifice, and his resurrection is the power that breaks through the gate that seems impossible to open.
We face locked gates every day, those things that elevate anxiety and never seem to go away. The power of Jesus’ mercy is that it reaches through the gate. This has brought me comfort today. God’s love for me in the cross passes through the gate of this surgery to whatever God has planned for me.
The same is true for you, no matter the gate that you face today whether it be new or old, big or small: “The word of the cross…is the power of God.”
Copyright Family of Christ Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado
