God, You are my God. I celebrate You. I praise You. You’ve done Your share of miracle wonders, well-thought-out plans, solid and sure. Therefore, the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him. You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in You. And though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore. But your eyes shall see your teachers. Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it.” “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” [Isaiah 25:1, Message version; Isaiah 30:18; Isaiah 26:3; Isaiah 30:20&21; Isaiah 41:10]
Holy Spirit Your word teaches me: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. [Proverbs 1:7; Proverbs 3:5&6; John 14:27] I have learned in my life to fear only You, I also have learned to trust in You above all else and that is the only way that I find any peace in this life. I have weathered turbulent times in my life, losing five babies in pregnancies, not getting the jobs I thought I would get, losing my miracle son at 21, watching all three of my children suffer, and seeing my wife grieve the loss of her baby, her parents, her uncles, and other sufferings she has gone through, yet my only peace of mind, my only anchor to sanity in this life has been my faith in You. You have taught me the power and the balm of prayer and praise. You have taught me to reach out and love again. You have taught me to encourage people from the next generation. You have taught me when I lost being a coach in sports that I could be a coach in life. You have taught me to learn humility instead of bitterness for not advancing in my work. You have taught me what freedom truly is by working with those who no longer have freedom because of their choices. Wisdom is not an easy teacher, yet the worth of it as Solomon said is worth more than gold and silver because by it I can live. I live a life of hope because of my fear of the Lord and slow gaining of wisdom.
The end of all things is near. Therefore, be clear-minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of suffering. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast. Grace and peace will be multiplied to me through the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given to me all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of God who has called me to His glory and excellence, by which He has given to me exceedingly great and precious promises so that through these things I might become a partaker of the divine nature and escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. For this reason, help me to make every effort to add virtue to my faith; and to my virtue, knowledge, and to my knowledge, self-control; and to my self-control, patient endurance; and to my patient endurance, godliness; and to my godliness, brotherly kindness; and to my brotherly kindness love. For if all of these reside in me and abound, they will ensure that I will neither be useless nor unfruitful in the knowledge of Jesus Christ my Lord. Help me to diligently make my calling and election sure so that when I add all these areas into my life I will not stumble and will be able to enter into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ which will be abundantly provided for me. In Jesus’ name, Amen. [1 Peter 4:7-11; 1Peter 5:6-11; 2 Peter 1:3-11 MEV version]