Daily Devotion for Lent 2024, Day 28

“Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.  For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.  Is there anyone among you who, if your child asked for bread, would give a stone?  Or if the child asked for a fish, would give a snake?  If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!"

                                                                Matthew 7:7-11 (NRSVue)

This passage initially sounds like good news but I think it can also be perplexing.  There are plenty of times we have prayed for things that didn't happen.  I think we can understand if we prayed for something self-serving and didn't get it - we need to align ourselves with God's will.  But what about the times we prayed for something selfless?

Healing comes to mind.  We would say that health and wholeness align with God's will for people.  There have been people with ailments that seemed certainly lethal.  Somehow they overcame illness and found renewed health.  They may have an instant of faith or prayer that stands out or they may speak of the countless numbers of notices received that people were praying for them.  They often point to God for the miraculous healing and are grateful for the extra days of life they now cherish.

But what about the person that died?  Maybe this was a younger adult or even a child.  They were also bathed in prayer but their illness led to death.  Wouldn't these prayers for healing seemingly align with God's will?

In these instances, it may seem to the parents that they did ask for a fish and received a snake.

They may feel that they've been knocking until their hands are bloody.

I find that the mysteries of life return at these moments and, like Job, we are forced to take an extreme balcony view.  All life eventually ends, whether it spans moments or decades.  If we remain at the cross, the end is all we know.  But we are people of the resurrection.  Our hope is that the end of life is only a transition.  And as we eventually reach acceptance in our grief, maybe this is where we find the door opening to us at last.

Prayer for the day: Beneficent God, we believe that you want good things for all your children.  Help us to ask for that which will help the largest number of people.  Guide us to seek for those things which provide hope for those around us.  And as we knock, may we do so more out of trust than desperation.  We pray these things in Jesus' name.  Amen.

 

Photo by Bart Heird via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.