Daily Devotions
Sunday, August 10, 2025
“What can these anxious cares avail thee, These never-ceasing moans and sighs? What can it help if thou bewail thee O’er each dark moment as it flies? Our cross and trials do but press The heavier for our bitterness.
“Be patient and await His leisure In cheerful hope, with heart content To take what’er thy Father’s pleasure And His discerning love hath sent, Nor doubt our inmost wants are known To Him who choose us for His own.”
People sometimes speak of having a “cross to bear.” They may refer to an illness or loss, to difficult circumstances in life or perhaps to a time of spiritual struggle and testing. Our hymn carries a warning about our tendency to add to our cross-shaped burdens: “Our cross and trials do but press the heavier for our bitterness.” Anxious fear or bitterness towards God only add to the weight of that cross. Yet even apart from any bitterness, we will very likely have questions and doubts. We offer up prayers that begin with a question: “Why?”
The hymn counsels us to be patient as we bear the cross that has been sent to us and to “await His leisure,” that is, to wait with patience for God’s own timing and ordering of events. As we endure the weight of the cross, we continue to bring our petitions before the throne of God. We take our sorrow, pain, and even our complaints to Him. He wants us to call on Him in times of trouble and at all times. God will answer our prayers according to His will and His all-knowing, discerning love.
According to that same all-knowing, discerning love, God laid the burden of a cross on His own Son. He sent Jesus our Savior to bear the heavy weight of a wooden cross for the sake of our salvation. Jesus, crucified for us, bore the even greater weight of our sins as He hung dying on the cross. Through His sacrifice and His resurrection, the burden of sin has been lifted from us. We are declared innocent because Jesus died for us. Without fear or hesitation, we can bring our wants and needs before the throne of God. We can be certain that our loving Heavenly Father, who gave His Son for us, knows “our inmost wants.” Through the weight of the crosses we must bear, God calls us to repentance and draws us closer to Himself. He already knows what each day will bring for us (see Psalm 139:16). He already knows how long our cross-bearing will last. Even our bitterness, fears, or doubts cannot cause our Heavenly Father to turn away because, in Christ Jesus, God “chose us for His own.”
WE PRAY: Lord Jesus, help me to bear my cross and faithfully follow You. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Carol Geisler. It is based on the hymn, “If Thou But Trust in God to Guide Thee,” which is number 750 in the Lutheran Service Book.
Reflection Questions:
- How does having burdens make us more sensitive to other people’s plights?
- Do you know someone who has a demanding situation in life to deal with, and who bears it well? What can you learn from them?
- What comfort does it bring you to know that you are “fearfully and wonderfully made” by God? (See Psalm 139.)
Today's Readings:
Psalms 149-1501 Corinthians 5