I will restore to you

the years that

the swarming locust

         has eaten...

You shall know

that I am in the

       midst of Israel,

and that I am

  the LORD your God

and there is none else.

                  Joel 2. 25, 27

(Our hope is not just

that there is an end

     to this hardship,

no matter

      what it is

      or how long it lasts,

but there is

   redeeming and restoration,

even in the midst of difficulty.

God is with us even now

that we may know Him,

   and not just believe,

entirely new dimensions

of who God is

and His unbounded grace.)

O LORD,

You have appointed us

to bear witness

          to Your Word

and to the testimony

     of Jesus.

Help us to be a blessing

   to all around us,

sensitive to needs,

and a strengthening

  to those who are

  suffering so much,

even in that

       we are not aware.