A New Devotion - Let it be, dear Lord, let it be

Here's a new devotion that I wrote. It's based on the passage below. You can find a recording of this devotion at the bottom of the page.

Romans 8:12-27 [Contemporary English Version]

My dear friends, we must not live to satisfy our desires. If you do, you will die. But you will live, if by the help of God's Spirit you say “No” to your desires. Only those people who are led by God's Spirit are his children. God's Spirit doesn't make us slaves who are afraid of him. Instead, we become his children and call him our Father. God's Spirit makes us sure that we are his children. His Spirit lets us know that together with Christ we will be given what God has promised. We will also share in the glory of Christ, because we have suffered with him.

I am sure what we are suffering now cannot compare with the glory that will be shown to us. In fact, all creation is eagerly waiting for God to show who his children are. Meanwhile, creation is confused, but not because it wants to be confused. God made it this way in the hope that creation would be set free from decay and would share in the glorious freedom of his children. We know that all creation is still groaning and is in pain, like a woman about to give birth.

The Spirit makes us sure about what we will be in the future. But now we groan silently, while we wait for God to show that we are his children. This means that our bodies will also be set free. And this hope is what saves us. But if we already have what we hope for, there is no need to keep on hoping. However, we hope for something we have not yet seen, and we patiently wait for it.

In certain ways we are weak, but the Spirit is here to help us. For example, when we don't know what to pray for, the Spirit prays for us in ways that cannot be put into words. All of our thoughts are known to God. He can understand what is in the mind of the Spirit, as the Spirit prays for God's people.

Let it be, dear Lord, let it be

I am weak but Thou art strong;

Jesus, keep me from all wrong;

I'll be satisfied as long

As I walk, let me walk close to Thee.

Thro' this world of toil and snares,

If I falter, Lord, who cares?

Who with me my burden shares?

None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee.

Of course, if you’ve been around the church for as long as I have, you probably know this song. In fact, it may be one of those songs you remember from childhood, you know, the kind that brings back memories of a simpler time.

But I think we’d be making a big mistake to dismiss it as just a gentle blast from the past, because the words are anything but sweet and passive. In fact, just like Paul expressed to the Romans, it’s a reminder that God will see us through the problems and the pain that we face by reminding us of a status that we now have with him and by giving us a glimpse into our future right here in the present. You see, through God’s spirit, we are the children of God, and we can endure, until, in his good time, we find eternal peace on the other side. Now this was certainly what Paul wrote in the passage we just read. And not only is it implied in the first two verses of hymn about which we’ve been talking, it’s made explicit in the last verse, and this time, I’ll include the refrain:

When my feeble life is o'er,

Time for me will be no more;

Guide me gently, safely o'er

To Thy kingdom shore, to Thy shore.

Just a closer walk with Thee,

Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,

Daily walking close to Thee,

Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.