Sculley Family

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Multimedia Lent Devotional – Monday of the Third Week of Lent

March 23, 2025

2025:

Monday of the Third Week of Lent:

  • Scripture (Faith Vick) – Psalm 130:5, 7
  • Reflection (Karen Sculley)
  • Prayer (Shelly McClain)
  • Videos: Luke 4:24-30
  • Music: “I Will Wait for You” (Shane & Shane) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C3WQ1G1Uso

Psalm 130:5, 7 – I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope … O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem.

As I write this reflection, I’m on a trip to another city where Paul and I are sorting through over three decades of accumulation and memories on behalf of some precious loved ones. This time last year we could not have guessed how things would turn out. We could not have imagined the choices that other people would make. We could not have envisioned the consequences that ensued. As overwhelmed as we have been by the heartbreak of betrayal, abandonment, and false accusations, we’ve tried to respond with as much love and justice as possible, because that’s how God treats us. As overwhelmed as we are by the magnitude of the tasks before us now, we are trying to do everything with as much care and honor as we can, because that’s how God treats us.

Thinking back over how things went down in the last year, I realize I could have chosen to wait for others to do the right thing. But that’s the wrong thing to wait for. Psalm 130 encourages us to wait for the Lord. I could have chosen to hope that others would make better choices. But that’s the wrong thing to hope for. Psalm 130 urges us to hope in God’s word and in the Lord! Why? Because with the Lord there is steadfast love. With God there is great power to redeem. If we drew a Venn diagram of “the way things are” we might notice that without the Lord, there is an absence of steadfast love. Without God, we simply do not have the power to redeem.

Suffering comes in many different forms in this world. Jesus did not promise us, his followers, that we would escape suffering. Jesus promises to always be with us, even in our suffering. Jesus understands. Jesus was betrayed. Jesus was abandoned. Jesus was falsely accused. Jesus experienced the same kind of emotions common to us all. Beyond that, Jesus was also tortured and put to death in the most barbaric way, for us. And through it all, Jesus never gave up hope. Jesus remained faithful to God. And because of Jesus’ faithfulness and his death and resurrection, Jesus showed us that he is the hope of the world.

A precious New Testament scripture encourages us in very specific ways as to how we can follow Jesus in times of suffering and pain, and I love how 2 Corinthians 4:8-10 is rendered in The Message translation: “We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us – trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us – he lives!” The good news is that with the Lord there is steadfast love and great power to redeem! Because Jesus lives, we too can live in Jesus, the hope of the world!

2024:

Monday of the Third Week of Lent:

Psalm 42:2-3; 43:3-4 – “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God? My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me continually, ‘Where is your God?’ … O send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling. Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy; and I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God.”

How do we resolve the problem of evil? How do we answer the psalmist’s question, “Where is your God?” when we know that God is simultaneously omnipotent (all-powerful), omnibenevolent (all-good), and omniscient (all-knowing)? We may find it especially difficult to remember who God is in the presence of our own suffering or that or someone we’re close to. In times of great suffering, it can be tempting to rebel against God, shake our fist in God’s face, or even to give up belief in God altogether. But, as philosopher Alvin Plantinga wrote, “God can create free creatures, but he can’t cause or determine them to do only what is right. For if he does so, then they aren’t significantly free after all … To create creatures capable of moral good, [God] must create creatures capable of moral evil; and he can’t give these creatures the freedom to perform evil and at the same time prevent them from doing so.” He goes on to say that “such a problem calls, not for philosophical enlightenment, but for pastoral care.” And that’s exactly what our psalmist offers us. Instead of hearing, “Where is your God” as an accusation against a callous, cold, or careless deity, we can receive that question as an invitation to turn to our powerful, good, and wise God, the source and sustainer of all beauty, goodness, truth, light, and life. God is described here as our exceeding joy, for he gives us everything we need for wholeness, flourishing, and delight. God gives us hope in the midst of despair, perseverance in the midst of adversity, peace in the midst of turmoil, strength in the midst of devastation, love in the  midst of indifference. “Where is your God?” God is with us, and his name is Jesus.

2023:

Monday of the Third Week of Lent:

  • Scripture (Karla Wilkinson) – Psalm 42:2-3; 43:3-4
  • Reflection (Pam Cammarata)
  • Prayer (Faith & Declan)
  • Video: Luke
  • Music: “Send Out Your Light” (Sandra McCracken)

Each short Multimedia Lent Devotional is an invitation to set aside time each day during the season preceding Easter. Lent is a solemn 40-day period we observe as we seek to draw near to God prior to the great celebration of Easter. During Lent,

  • we intentionally practice sober reflection, serious repentance, and sincere restitution, in which we more fully recognize our brokenness as humans, looking always to Jesus Christ as our Savior and sanctifier;
  • we seek to live lives marked by simplicity, self-denial, and surrender, in imitation of Christ Jesus, who fasted for 40 days in the wilderness before He began His public ministry;
  • we look for ways in which we express love for neighbors and nations in need in practical ways through generously giving of our time, talents, and treasures.

This collaboration is brought to you by Liberty Vineyard Church

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