Devotional

“The Christian life is not a quiet escape to a garden where we can walk and talk uninterruptedly with our Lord, not a fantasy trip to a heavenly city where we can compare our blue ribbons and gold medals with those of others who have made it to the winners’ circle. To suppose that, or to expect that, is to turn the nut the wrong way. The Christian life is going to God. In going to God, Christians travel the same ground that everyone else walks on, breathe the same air, drink the same water, … fear the same dangers, are subject to the same pressures, get the same distresses, are buried in the same ground. 

“The difference is that each step we walk, each breath we breathe, we know we are preserved by God, we know we are accompanied by God, we know we are ruled by God; and therefore no matter what doubts we endure or what accidents we experience, the Lord will guard us from every evil, he guards our very life.”  

—Eugene Peterson in
“A Long Obedience in the Same Direction” 

 My prayer this week: Lord, help me remember this truth every hour of every day. Thank you for your sovereignty — for accompanying me — for guarding my life. Please keep me on the path to you and deepen my faith in your promises and goodness along the way.