Day 355

But he answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things?'

Matthew 20:13-15a

Lord Jesus,

Sometimes we feel cheated. We look around and see others who got more than we did; better jobs, truer friends, more years of marriage until death do us part...

But Your promises to us are so much more than any worldly calculations. You give us children, but don't promise obedience; bodies, but don't promise health; and marriages-- husbands and wives-- but don't promise we will all celebrate 50th wedding anniversaries.

We belong to You, and You are sovereign. Each of our lives is in Your hands, and You alone decide the number of days allotted to us. Every moment, every breath, is a gift.

Please help Pastor Robert, please help all of us, to accept Your will and not grow weary in well-doing. Help us not grow bitter, but instead, to be grateful for what we did have. 

Help us through our seasons of sorrow when You decide our loved ones have finished their work on this Earth, place a crown of righteousness upon their heads, and lead them away with You.

I ask this in Your name, Jesus,
Amen