Sarah
SUNDAY, June 28
Genesis 18:9-15; 21:1-7
Some years ago I sat at a table in a seminar at my very first Covenant Midwinter conference. After years of seemingly unsuccessful pursuits of pastoral ministry in other places, I had all but given up. I looked at my fellow Covenanters at the tables around me and thought, “What in the world am I doing here? This is absurd. What could God possibly be doing?” Fast-forward several years since that January afternoon: it was clear that God was doing something. If I had been given infinite time and an infinite number of chances to guess what God was up to, I never would have come close to articulating the work he has done in the years since. I, like Sarah, would have laughed had I known the truth. (I, like Sarah, would have also lied that I laughed!) I could never have imagined that what felt absolutely impossible was entirely possible for God. By biological standards, Sarah was far too old to bear a child, yet God said it would be so. Against all earthly odds, along came Isaac. God was indeed doing something. The story of Sarah and Isaac so beautifully holds the tension of being a finite person in a world created by an infinite God.
Prayer
God, thank you that amidst our doubt, skepticism, and limitations, you remain limitless. Give us the courage to be open to your boundless, infinite nature. Amen.
Rebekah
Monday, June 29
Genesis 25:19-26
“Why is this happening to me?” (v. 22). Rebekah’s inquiry of God rings all too familiar. Sometimes we hope and pray for something to happen—and when it finally does, we assume that our long-suffering wait is over. Rarely are we prepared for more adversity. It’s almost like running a marathon, only to reach the finish line and learn that a 10K race still awaits. I wonder if that’s how Rebekah felt after years of being childless—only to have not one but two children wrestling inside her womb. Everything about Jacob and Esau in today’s passage is laced in chaos, which was likely not the hope of a new, long expectant mother.
Rebekah’s is a legitimate question given the circumstances. While we do not always know God’s purpose and plan, we trust that he knows. The plans may come with more uncertainty than we are comfortable with, but they are God’s plans, not ours.
Prayer
God, thank you that your plans are never a surprise to you. Grant us the grace to trust the path you have laid out for us. Amen.
Leah
Tuesday, June 30
Genesis 29:31-35
When my sister and I were little, she had a beloved stuffed dog named Goldie. Goldie was so well loved that she was missing patches of fur, had deep scratches on her plastic eyes, and her felt nose had to be sewn back on repeatedly. Goldie went everywhere we went. One day Goldie got lost on the Santa Cruz wharf, and my family sent out a search party to find her because my sister couldn’t be without Goldie. Thankfully, Goldie returned to us. Although Goldie had constantly matted fur and was in need of frequent repair, no other stuffed animal on the face of this earth was loved quite like Goldie.
Like my family looking out for Goldie on the wharf, God was looking out for Leah. Today’s passage highlights God’s lavish love for Leah, who was otherwise unloved and desperate. The Lord heard her, and in a great act of love opened her womb. Leah responds with praise and gratitude, which is also our response to God’s matchless love in our own lives. No matter if we are overlooked, unseen, or unloved by others, God always sees, hears, knows, and loves us.
Prayer
God, thank you that you see us even when others do not. Thank you that you know us and love us beyond measure. Amen.
Rachel
Wednesday, July 1
Genesis 30:1-2, 22-24
One Sunday morning I boarded a flight from JFK to San Francisco at the unruly hour of 6 a.m. I fell asleep before the plane even took off. Over an hour later I awoke to commotion and bright cabin lights. It turned out, our plane had never taken off due to a mechanical issue and we were being instructed to deplane back at the gate, where we would wait for a new aircraft. “I wasted all that good sleep for nothing! We should be getting closer to home by now,” I thought as I cashed in my airport food voucher.
Waiting, by any measure, is difficult. In Genesis 30, we find Rachel in the state of brutal, humbling waiting. She is waiting for a child, a wait that so far, has had no end in sight. In the middle of this story Rachel attempts to end the waiting herself (Genesis 30:3–8). The desperation Rachel expresses in verses 1–2 so accurately depicts what it feels like to be without control of when or if our excruciating wait will ever end. We should be so far along by now, yet we are not. Just as Rachel eventually bore sons by the grace of God, so God doesn’t forget us in our waiting, no matter how desperate we may feel.
Prayer
God, thank you for being patient with our impatience. Thank you for your faithfulness when we are in despair. Give us the endurance and strength to trust you in the waiting. Amen.
Asenath
Thursday, July 2
Genesis 41:50-52
Several years ago, I tried to kill a stubborn weed in my backyard. I sprayed it with weed killer, deprived it of water, and attempted to make this weed’s life miserable on the daily. To my surprise, it just would not die. In fact, it seemed to grow bigger by the week. As it turned out, that “weed” was actually a little tiny tree. Now, over a dozen years later, that tree that I tried so fervently to kill gives shade to a large portion of my backyard. Like Joseph and Asenath, it bore fruit in hostile territory and thrived in a place of pain and affliction. God’s dual blessings of forgetfulness and fruitfulness in these verses may seem a bit odd to us, but perhaps the forgetfulness Joseph mentions in verse 51 is about being relieved and released from the clutches of hostility. The sons of Joseph and Asenath are living, breathing reminders of God’s ability to transcend the most painful circumstances. Thriving in the land that once seemed destined to destroy is evidence of God’s grace and mercy in the story of Asenath and Joseph, and in the story of each of us.
Prayer
God, thank you that because of you, we can grow in hostile territory. Give us peace in times of struggle. Amen.
Mary, Mother Of Jesus
Friday, July 3
Luke 1:26-38, 45-49
While the Bible is full of extraordinary stories about ordinary people, perhaps one of the most significant is about an unwed teenager facing an unexpected pregnancy. Surely this raised eyebrows from the townspeople and even Mary’s own fiancé. So much of this story broke all social norms and expectations. It was hardly a story one would think could alter the course of human history. Yet Mary is not only miraculously pregnant; she is carrying the Messiah, the Savior. This Jesus would bring hope and light as a source of joy to a broken and fractured world. The fact that an ordinary, unwed teenager would bring this life-changing, history-altering Jesus into the world is beyond remarkable.
Mary responds to the divine task with humility and gratitude. Her words in verse 38, “I am the Lord’s servant,” “May your word to me be fulfilled,” display a deep sense of trust in the message and the messenger. Mary knew how crazy the circumstances seemed. Yet she humbly believed. She was committed to serving the Lord, and if that meant birthing the Savior, she was willing to obey with joy. More than 2,000 years later, the story of Mary remains one of the most pivotal and incredible stories to ever unfold.
Prayer
God, thank you that you are our source of hope, light, and joy. Give us the desire to serve you as Mary did, in humility and faith. Amen.
Hope Anchored In God’s Presence
Saturday, July 4
Psalm 27:13-14
In periods of painful waiting, it can seem as if God is far away or not present at all. In one particularly difficult season, I was ranting on the phone to a trusted friend. Frustrated and overwhelmed, I shouted, “And where was God? He wasn’t even here!” My normally mild-mannered friend cut me off hard and shouted back, “Bronwyn! Do you really mean to tell me you believe God just wasn’t there?! Of course he was!” In a second I came back to earth again. “You’re right. He was. I just don’t like how long this is taking.”
Clearly, I’m not the best at waiting. I can be impatient and aggravated when I feel God is not moving fast enough (as if I am one to tell God how fast he should move!). My tolerance for waiting has grown, however, as my understanding of God has grown. The truth is, God is always present, even in the excruciatingly difficult times. It may take a moment before we recognize his work, his movement, his grace. But as we trust he is there, we wait. In the waiting we find hope anchored in the presence of a merciful, loving, and gracious God.
Prayer
God, thank you that you are always here, always present even in the painful and dark moments of waiting. Give us the fortitude to anchor ourselves in hope that you are near. Amen.
