Great Is Thy Faithfulness
Wednesday’s Verse:
From Genesis 8:22 ESV
“While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”
Yesterday morning, it was cold outside. Going out to pick up the New York Post on the front lawn in the dark, I checked my watch and it glared 30 degrees. Oof, that was rather chilly. And then it started snowing lightly. A few hours later, I went back outside after the sun came up and realized that snow had piled up around the wiper blades of my car. Our first snowfall of the season! 😀
With the weather on my mind, I thought about today’s verse from Genesis 8. After the flood, as Noah and his family emerged from the ark into a renewed world, God made a promise to all of creation—not just to them. The seasons would come and go, warmth and cold, plenty and rest, and they would do so as a sign of God’s unfailing faithfulness. So even as the November wind chills and cuts, we know that the God who brushes autumn across the landscape and brings winter’s white chill to the trees is keeping His covenant.
Cold always reminds us that change is a part of living in a world under God’s care. Even as the seasons change, the Earth keeps spinning. While the first real cold gives us shivers, we see our faithful God who is unchanging. When life seems dark or desolate, as it will when the final leaves fall over the course of the month, we can hold on to the promise: “While the earth remains…” God’s sustaining hand is never withdrawn.
Prayers
A Prayer for Today:
Lord of the Seasons, thank You for the rhythm of Your creation, for cold and warmth, work and rest, endings and beginnings. As the days grow colder, may You kindle within us the warmth of Your love and the assurance of Your promise that You will never leave Your world or Your people uncared for. In Jesus Christ, our Living Hope. Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
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