April 25: Of paths to walk, and the strength to walk them

Judges 4:1-5:31

Luke 22:35-53

Psalm 94:1-23

Proverbs 14:3-4

Lk 22L41-43: 

He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, "Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done."  An angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him. 

Ps 94:17-19

Unless the Lord had given me help,

   I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.

When I said, "My foot is slipping,"

   Your unfailing love, Lord, supported me.

When anxiety was great within me,

   Your consolation brought me joy.

If you're like me, despite how much you've already been blessed, there are days you feel helpless, even hopeless in the face of all you have on your plate.  There are days you wake up, wonder and worry - about the next bill, about your kids, about your marriage, about your parents, about your job...and the feeling is made worse by the sense that there is nothing you can do, that none of it is in your control.  

For example, my daughter is off to college, far away from my influence and protection - I worry about her.  Among other things, I worry that she isn't eating enough, exercising enough, praying enough.  I worry about tuition bills and the possibility something happens that makes it prohibitive, perhaps impossible for her to continue to attend college.  And I've come to realize the fact of the matter is, there is precious little I can do about any of that now.  This is, after all, the course of life God has set her (and me and her mother) on.  And while some days are good, and it has been almost a year, there are still days when I ache because of the distance between us, and am saddened by the emptiness of her room that greets me when I get home.  

It is in this context I find such gratitude for today's readings, for being reminded that our Lord, too, felt helpless and overwhelmed in the face of the path HIs Father had chosen for Him.  Here's what's amazing, though - in His weakness, His worry, perhaps even His fear, He cried out to His father.  And His Father, Who'd chosen the path He was to trod, gave Him the strength to walk it.  Even our Savior did not have to rely on His strength alone.  His response to the persistent anguish?  Even more earnest prayer, so much that his sweat "was like drops of blood falling to the ground".  

The psalmist says it well too - when our foot is slipping, how wonderful that we can cry out to God and, in His unfailing love, He will support us; in our anxiety, we know He will console us.  Father, we depend on Your help, Your unfailing love, Your consolation.  Remind us that when the path You've chosen for us is overwhelming, that all we have to do is ask, and You will give us the strength to walk in Your ways.