There is an old Celtic Blessing that sits on my desk that I look at nearly every day.
O God, make clear to us each road,
Make safe for us each step,
When we stumble, hold us,
When we fall, lift us up,
When we are hard-pressed with evil, deliver us,
And at last bring us to Your glory!
As many times as I have read this prayer, it has taken on a much deeper meaning in this new COVID season. God has clearly opened up new roads and given me the wisdom and courage to walk down them. No path is ever easy. Even in our stumbling, even when we fall, He holds us, He lifts us up. When we are hard-pressed as Jesus asks us to pray, He “delivers us from evil.”
We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So, we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:8-10, 16-18
