The Daily Office for May 3, 2012
Scriptures
Psalm 50
Exodus 34:1-17
1 Thessalonians 2:13-20
Matthew 5:21-26
Reading (Psalm 50)
Reflection
How do you respond when something bad happens to you? Do you get angry and sulk? Do you withdraw in sadness? Do you give up or press on? When troubles arise, the first thing to do is ask God for his comfort. Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the troubles will suddenly vanish. If that were the case, people would turn to God just as an occasional pain reliever. Instead of popping a couple of aspirin, they’d shoot up a prayer.
But our relationship with God is based on a desire to love and serve Him – it’s not just an emergency thing to do when we need help. Being comforted by God means getting the strength, the hope and the encouragement we need to get through our troubling situations. And the more we suffer for the sake of Christ, the more God showers us with His comfort through Christ.
Collect for the Day
Almighty God, whose Son Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life: raise us, who trust in him, from the death of sin to the life of righteousness, that we may seek those things which are above, where he reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.