Day 9 Focus: God’s Promises and God’s Light help us to be bold.

Level 1: (5 Minutes) As you pause to breathe deeply today consider what you are learning during this Lenten Season. When we pray and take the time to rest for even five minutes to contemplate, our actions can be more focused and thoughtful and eventually even bolder. Thinking things through promotes mature responses. Sharing ideas in a Beloved and Safe Community helps us to clarify and strengthen our resolve. When two or more are gathered to discern God’s direction, we can experience miracles.

Level 2: (10 minutes) Do Level 1. After Reading the scripture adaptation, take 5 minutes to discern what word or phrase catches your interest:

Adapted from Psalm 18:28-50. I praise You, Lord, because You light my lamp and illuminate my darkness. Your way is blameless and Your word is tried. When I take refuge in You, You are my shield. You gird me in strength, and keep me from sin. You make my feet like hind’s feet and set me on high places. You enlarge my steps under me so my feet don’t slip. You train my hands for battle. You give me the shield of Your salvation. Your right hand upholds me. Your tenderness makes me great. You gird me for battle and deliver me from contentious people. You are my rock and my salvation! I sing praises to Your name for Your deliverance and Your loving kindness forever. Amen.

Level 3: (15 minutes) After pausing to breathe and reading the Scripture prayer, take 5 minutes to write when you have felt the Holy Spirit’s inspiration to be bold.

Level 4: (30-60 minutes) This morning as I was walking in the bright sunlight, I was astonished at the beauty of God’s masterpieces—the freshly fallen snow, the clear, brisk winter air, and the magnificent Mount Monadnock were all reminders of God’s creative gifts to us. I truly believe with God’s help, we can be bold and make a difference. While today’s prayer is very specific about how we obtain strength when we have faith in God, the words, “Your tenderness makes me great,” stood out to me. The virtue of tenderness is often overlooked. However, when we stand our ground and acknowledge that we are not alone—that God is with us in all of our trials—we can embrace tenderness because succeeding does not all depend upon us alone. A huge part of achieving a worthwhile goal comes from being able to persevere in the face of opposition. Understanding that God is always with me gives me strength to be both bold AND tender. How about you? What inspires you to be both bold and tender? Have you seen boldness and tenderness work together to produce miracles?