Susan LaffertyThe commandments given are plain. Straightforward.
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul,
and with all your strength, and with all your mind,’
and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’.”
Luke 10:27
Love the Lord with all that I am. Yes! And love my neighbor. Of course.
But, uh, by the way. Who is my neighbor?
2020. And the pandemic spreads to the ends of the earth. We wait. And walk in constant change. Cancellations. Upheaval.
Those serving around the world are affected. Some caught in months of lockdown. Stopped at borders. Forced to leave. Or forced to stay in their home countries.
At times it feels overwhelming. As we grieve unexpected losses.
In the middle of it all, I’m drawn back to a familiar psalm of deliverance. Psalm 18. Detailing the sure and powerful rescue by the Almighty.
This time I read the first verse. Stop. And can’t move past it.
I’m compelled in that moment. To reach beyond grief. And dwell on the deep, deep love of my King. Lover of my soul.
“Come and see,” the psalmist says in Psalm 66. I hear the invitation. To see the works of God. Remember His awesome acts.
And in one brief sentence, the writer speaks volumes.
“He turned the sea into dry land;
They passed through the river on foot.”
Psalm 66:6
Succinctly said. But the people know. These are two indelible markers on their journey with God.
The sea and the river. Deliverance and entering the promised land.
