The Lord is your Keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever. Psalm 121:5-8
“He is our sure Keeper when we are ourselves in unpeace, and He continually worketh to bring us into endless peace. And thus when we, by the working of mercy and grace, be made meek and mild, we are fully safe; suddenly is the soul oned to God when it is truly peaced in itself: for in Him is found no wrath. And thus I saw when we are all in peace and in love, we find no contrariness, nor no manner of letting through that contrariness which is now in us; nay, our Lord of His Goodness maketh it to us full profitable. For that contrariness is cause of our tribulations and all our woe, and our Lord Jesus taketh them and sendeth them up to Heaven, and there are they made more sweet and delectable than heart may think or tongue may tell. And when we come thither we shall find them ready, all turned into very fair and endless worships. Thus is God our steadfast Ground: and He shall be our full bliss and make us unchangeable, as He is, when we are there.”
Julian of Norwich (1342-1416) in Showings, also known as, Revelations of Divine Love (CSD edition) excerpt from Chapter XLIX.
Norwich, of course, is a city in England. England has been on my mind since we had lunch with Zsolt Szalai, the president of CBMC Hungary, and his wife, Melinda, here in Budapest prior to the start of the summit. Their two daughters are studying in university over in England.
God’s providence comes into view as He is “our sure Keeper” who takes us from a place of unpeace to peace. Peace has been the theme of our devotions at the Budapest Summit. Peace only comes from God.
What does this have to do with generosity? A leading hindrance to generosity is unpeace. The fear that our giving will leave us empty. Julian echoes the Psalmist in todays Scripture and reminds us the Lord is our Keeper who “continually worketh to bring us into endless peace.”
Father, we resolve today to exchange our worry for worship. Move us from unpeace to peace. By your Holy Spirit, help us let go of our contrariness, which actually multiplies our fears, and stand firmly on You, our steadfast Ground. Move us from bother to bliss because of your goodness we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.