January 10, 2025 // Friday after Epiphany

Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Luke 5:12-16.

Reflect on the Word // 

I looked out the window, watching raindrops chase each other down the glass. Observing the Irish countryside, I pondered how the skies could be so gray, while the ground vibrantly wore a lush green color. In looking at my own heart, it made total sense. 

I had spent the past year juggling both grief and hope. On one hand, I had a devastating recent family loss and an overwhelming, anxious transition out of college. On the other, I had new friendships growing, opportunities to travel, and a deeper prayer life than I ever had before.

Every single day was filled with such a mix of both “gray” and “green.” It was those very clouds of my sadness and anxiety that the Lord was using most to grow new things, to love me, and to connect with me. As I shared honestly with Him how hard life felt to me, I was met with His companionship, His healing, and His joy. It didn’t ever change my circumstances, but time spent with Him in the “gray” always changed me into someone greener, more hopeful, and more at peace.

In moments of suffering, our honesty is essential. We must extend our hearts to God, tender as we painfully ask why the Lord would allow such difficulty. Like the leper in Luke 5, we say boldly, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean” (Luke 5:12).  Maybe in your prayer, it sounds like, Lord, if You wish, You can heal this, or If You wish, You can ease my pain. And we ask in our hearts, quietly to ourselves, Does He? Does He wish to heal us?

He does. He proves it with His presence. Without fail, the Lord extends His hand back to us. “I do will it. Be made clean,” He offers to us, just as He did in today’s Gospel (Luke 5:13). He may not heal us how and where we expect, but we can always trust Him at His word; He wills our good. May we remain open and eager to receive it from Him.

Relate to the Lord // Share the “gray” and “green” parts of your heart with Jesus today in prayer.