JUNE 7, 2025

 “You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope.” 

― Thomas Merton

2 CHRONICLES 23-25

17After the death of Jehoiada, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them. 18They abandoned the temple of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and worshiped Asherah poles and idols. Because of their guilt, God’s anger came on Judah and Jerusalem. 19Although the Lord sent prophets to the people to bring them back to him, and though they testified against them, they would not listen.

20Then the Spirit of God came on Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you disobey the Lord’s commands? You will not prosper. Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.’ ”

21But they plotted against him, and by order of the king they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple. 22King Joash did not remember the kindness Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had shown him but killed his son, who said as he lay dying, “May the Lord see this and call you to account.”(24:17-22)

JOHN 16:16-33

25“Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. 26In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”

29Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. 30Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”

31“Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. 32“A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.

33“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

JOURNAL 

The pattern is painfully clear throughout Scripture. A king rises with humility, seeks God, listens to wise counsel—and God blesses him. But then, with success comes drift. The pursuit fades. Obedience becomes optional. Ego replaces trust. In 2 Chronicles 24, King Joash starts strong under the influence of the priest Jehoiada, but after Jehoiada's death, Joash listens to flattery instead of truth. He abandons the temple, ignores the prophets, and ultimately orders the death of Zechariah—the very son of the man who had guided and protected him.

Why does this happen so often, not just in them but in me?

I start with good intentions. I trust God. I seek Him. And then, when things begin to go well, I slowly drift—subtly replacing God's voice with my own logic, the Spirit’s prompting with the world’s affirmation. Like Joash, I forget the kindness and faithfulness that once sustained me. I begin to listen to voices that say I’m not enough, that I’m missing something, that God’s way isn’t sufficient. It's the echo of the Garden all over again—the lie that I need something more than what God has already provided.

And yet, Jesus speaks to this very tension in John 16. He acknowledges the trouble, the scattering, the inevitable loneliness that comes when we drift or suffer or doubt. But then He says something stunning: “Take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

Not you have overcome it. Not your plans will fix it. I have overcome it.

That’s the invitation. Not to figure everything out. Not to have a five-year spiritual forecast. But to show up, to be faithful in the moment I’m in. Jesus promises peace not in the absence of trouble, but in the presence of Himself. That’s what makes the moment sacred, not its predictability, but its proximity to God.

Proverbs 3:5–6 becomes more than a proverb in that light. It becomes a lifeline:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Not clear. Not easy. Not painless. But straight. Directed. Covered.

Today I don’t need to know what’s next. I just need to resist the urge to run ahead or turn away. I need to recognize the holy possibilities of now—and embrace them with courage, faith, and hope.

Because the battle isn’t between success and failure.
The battle is between trust and self-reliance.

And only one of those roads leads home.

5Trust in the Lord with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding;

6in all your ways submit to him,

and he will make your paths straight.^a

PROVERBS 3:5-6