Every year during the season of Lent, we read the scripture about Jesus being lead into the wilderness for a time of trial. I’ve never quite understood why his ministry had to start that way. But it is an aspect of life, isn’t it… From time to time, we all face trials and temptations that really test our character.

In the Gospel of Matthew (chapter 4), we read that while in the wilderness, Jesus was tempted by the Devil. In ancient Jewish theology, the devil was not a little red character with horns on his head dancing around saying, “Extra crispy! Extra crispy! You’re going to burn.” No. The devil was a in a sense the personification of the forces of evil.

It’s interesting. The word devil comes from the root word diablien – to split. The devil, in biblical thinking, is that force that tries to split people away from God and away from each other.

However you want to understand the devil, there is no doubt there are forces at work in the world that are beyond us. Think about how a spirit of greed can seem to settle almost as a culture within a corporation – or an individual. Hatred can seem to just take over a person or a group of people. Spirits of addiction or cynicism or indifference can be almost impossible to shake. I don’t believe the old cliche, “the devil made me do it. But there is no doubt those forces are real… and they are powerful.

If we are to look to Jesus, through out every moment of trial, we see an utter dependence on God. In the wilderness, he fasts, and he leans on scripture – he leans on what he knows to be true about God. Even at the end of his ministry in the garden, we find him in a posture of prayer.

My prayer for you today is this: When you find yourself in the midst of the wilderness; in the midst of forces of darkness that promise one thing – but that can never deliver; in the midst of trials and temptations, may you turn to God. May you depend on God. And may you lean on what you know to be true about God. And as you do, may you also find a courage and a strength, and a hope that comes from beyond you.

Let us pray: God of Grace, as we continue this Lenten journey, draw us closer and closer to you. We give you our hearts and lives again this day. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Today’s message was written by my friend Rev. Roger Kunkel, founder of Dial Hope.

Friend of Dial Hope, I have a confession to make. Are you ready for this? I am an in-curable hoper and I want you to follow suit. I have a bias that no problem on earth is ever truly insoluble; problems are opportunities filled with possibilities. I do everything in my power to solve problems rather than create them. And I firmly believe that hope is our sustaining friend. It keeps us going through the good times and the restless nights of our souls.

To be sure, you will be sorely tempted to despair at times. Some of you listening to or reading this message are terminally ill, some of you are lonely and depressed, some of you are learning how to live with physical and emotional pain. I advise you: ward off cynicism and cultivate hopefulness. It is a choice you will be called to make daily.

The cynic says, “Blessed are they who believe in nothing, for they shall not be disappointed”. The hopeful person says, “Despite all of life’s ills, pains, and problems, it is still a beautiful world.” Such an attitude will make all the difference in your world. For the hoper, unlike the wishful thinker, is willing to work his or her head off that it might just come to be. We live as we hope. Good friends Kathy and Harry Dodge reminded me that Emily Dickinson wrote, “Hope is a thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words, and never stops at all.”

Let us pray: Loving God, it’s morning again…another day knocks. The tide of light rises, slides down the walls, across the ceiling, into my eyes, purging the darkness, slowly smoothing the crinkles of sleep. A particle of light has pierced our hearts reminding us to begin again, to get up and go. You promise to bless us so we may be a blessing to others. You give us contagious enthusiasm, so we can go on limping, hoping on every step a testament of gratitude. We scratch the ears of dogs, laugh at the ballet of cats and Pelicans, and dolphins. Help us this day to hear the cry and gurgle of the newborn, to learn from hundreds of teachers, some of them homeless, poor, and uneducated.

Awaken us to the beauty of the mockingbirds, the Milky Way. For You alone, O Lord, are our hope. You alone are our safety, our strength. May we – even with our fears and anxieties, our insecurities and uncertainties – trust, totally trust in your loving care and plan for our lives. Thank you for hearing this prayer. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

There is an old Peanuts comic strip in which Linus gets a splinter. When Lucy notices, she exclaims, “Ah-Ha! That means you’re being punished for something! What have you done wrong lately?” “I haven’t done anything wrong!”, Linus answers. To that, Lucy replies, “You have a sliver, haven’t you? That is a misfortune, isn’t it? You’re being punished with misfortune because you’ve been bad!…” She continues, “I know all about these things! I know that…” Just then, Linus interrupts, “It’s out! it just popped right out!” As Lucy walks away frowning, Linus says, “Thus endeth the theological lesson for today!”

Lucy’s theology is bad, though unfortunately, it is not uncommon. Sometimes people think that illness or misfortune is a sign of sin. Sometimes they look down on those who are down and out. However, bad things do happen to good people. And, good things sometimes happen to bad people. We don’t know why that is.

What we do know is that God sent Jesus into this world to share in our suffering, pain, and heartache. While there are no promises in scripture that life would be easy – there is the promise that God is with us – offering us strength and courage, peace and hope even in the midst of our trials.

What if Lucy had comforted and helped her brother instead of heaping on the guilt and blame? Now that would have been a theological lesson worth teaching!

Let us pray: Loving God, we can’t pretend to have all the answers, or to understand why things happen as they do. We remember Jesus saying that you cause the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and send rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Whether it is sunny or raining in our lives, help us to follow his example of self-giving love. May we find meaning and comfort in a grounded trust in your goodness and through our service to others. We pray in the name of the One who gave even his life for us. Amen.

Today’s message was written by my friend, Rev. Roger Kunkel, founder of Dial Hope.

You know, when we are born, the laws of God are already established. And, these governing principles are unchangeable… Fixed.

For example, there are the laws of the seasons. The farmer learns these laws and is governed by them. He plants his crop when it is time to plant so that he can reap when it is time to reap. It would be foolish for him to rebel and plant out of season, for this would not change the laws of God. It would only cause the failure of his crop.

So it is with your life. Each day you face a choice – your will or God’s will. If you choose to forget God, to be self-willed, self-centered, it is inevitable that you will have “crop failure” just as a farmer who foolishly plants out of season. But, if you choose to do God’s will as best you understand it, you will reap a harvest of joy and accomplishment.

In Psalm 37:4, the Bible says, “Be delighted with the Lord,” which means, rejoice and be happy doing things God’s way, “then God will give you your heart’s desires.” (Psalm 37:4, The Living Bible)

Let us pray: Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known and from whom no secrets are hidden, cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy name. Through the grace of Jesus Christ. Amen.

In Psalm 71, again and again, the psalmist cries out: Deliver me. Rescue me. Save me.

None of us would have to reflect very long to remember a time when we prayed that prayer… maybe by a hospital bed… or in the wake of diagnosis… or divorce… or even in the throughs of a long-term series illness. Save her! Help us… Deliver me!

I remember some time ago, a young man who was in recovery from serious drug addiction, told me that right before he got sober, he had this moment when he realized that there was nothing he could do within his power to stop using. He simply fell to his knees in prayer… Help me… But he shared with me that this prayer is not something he prayed just once. It is the same prayer every day first thing when he gets out of bed. He hits his knees and pleads, “I can’t do it, without you Lord. Help me…”

What’s interesting about this Psalm is that there is a balance, a back and forth, between a heartfelt prayer for deliverance and a confident sense of trust and hope.

In verse 14:

But I will hope continually,
and will praise you yet more and more.

In fact, three times the psalm goes back and forth between a crying out and a statement of trust and praise. And it seems to be, in the balance of it all, in the holding of it all together, the crying out, the remembering, and the praise, that something arises deep within this psalmist. It’s a confidence that cannot be shaken, a hope that cannot be contained.

Verse 3: …you are my rock and my fortress.

Verse 7: …you are my strong refuge.

This is not a hope that we will necessarily escape hardship. But a hope in the God who is with us in the midst of all of it… in the joy and the sorrow, the laughter and the tears, the tragic and the breathtakingly beautiful. It is a hope in the God who holds it all and who holds us, from the moment of birth to the moment of dying, and beyond…

I pray today, that this prayer from the psalms, would be your prayer. May you too cry out when in need, and even in the midst of that need, may you too remember God’s past grace. And as you do, may there arise within you a profound hope, a measure of trust, and even a song of praise.

Let us pray: Loving God, I pray today especially for those who need you need. Deliver, Lord. Rescue. Save. We entrust our very lives to you again this day; through Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.