⁹ “When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” ¹⁰ Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; ¹¹ there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.

¹² “But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. ¹³ This will give you an opportunity to testify. ¹⁴ So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; ¹⁵ for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. ¹⁶ You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. ¹⁷ You will be hated by all because of my name. ¹⁸ But not a hair of your head will perish. ¹⁹ By your endurance you will gain your souls.”

Luke 21:9-18

Dear God, I was listening to the Bible in a Year podcast from Ascension Press this morning, and this was part of the reading. The part that caught my ear was verses 14 and 15: “So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand.”

I have a meeting later today that concerns me. I’m not entering it with any malice in my heart, but I am afraid that others might be coming with malice. I just want to help. I want to help people in our community. I want to bring your light and hope into the world, but from the ground up, not the top down. Hearts need to be changed. People are walking in a fog. Parents are overwhelmed. Teachers and school personnel are, for lack of a better phrase, charging hell with a water pistol. I want to be your presence in that room today. I want to show others how much you love them. I want to show others what the fruits of the Spirit look like by first attaching my branch to your vine as securely as I am capable and then allowing your Holy Spirit to do the rest.

Father, make me a servant, humble and meek. Lord, let me lift up those who are weak. And my the prayer of my heart always be, “Make me a servant, make me a servant, make me a servant today.”

I pray this through Jesus’s life, death and resurrection, which allows me to come to you in prayer,

Amen