...was led by the Spirit

    in the wilderness...

               Luke 4. 1

(In the past week,

we have all found ourselves

  in a very different place,

a world that has changed

  before our very eyes,

  beyond our imagination.

But not beyond God,

    His glory and His purposes.

God is using this time

in equipping us for something,

    a time of strengthening.

Make the most of this wilderness,

not just trying to get through it,

or make sense of it,

or seeking to get out,

  but seeking Him in it.

God changes our hearts,

God changes how we see

  not just the circumstances

  and bleak landscape,

but how we see Him.

God is still God.

            Even in this.)

O LORD,

We have been led

to a foreign land,

wandering in the wilderness,

a dry and weary land

  where there appears no water.

Our souls long for You.

Help us to see this time

         very differently

because we know You,

because we know

    You are God Almighty.

May Your Presence

  not just be evident to us,

but obvious to others.

May we be bold in grace

    released from despair,

in Your name,

with Your strength,

bearing peace in our hands,

      for Your glory.