Our Virginia Synod Bishop Jim Mauney sends out a devotion every week derived from the Augsburg Confession, the statement of faith of the Lutheran theologians and princes as the Reformation was unfolding in 1530. It is still our confession of faith today as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The devotion is based on a book called We Believe: A Prayer Book Based on the Augsburg Confession, written by our Bishop Emeritus Richard Bansemer and Dr. Walter R. Bouman. This week’s devotion featured a prayer that is sticking with me:
Lord God, sometimes I think I work too hard trying to please you. Sometimes I imagine that you require more of me than what I am, or have, or ought to become. Sometimes I still try to earn your love and salvation. I note the sacrifices and lives of the saints before me, and marvel at their devotion. I would be like them, if only I could. Help me look a the gifts you have given me as special – so special that no one else have been called to go to the places I can go, be with the people I can be with, and do the things that you’ve equipped me to do over the years. Keep me from coveting anyone else, whether in love, or service, or skill, or recognition of service in your kingdom. Help me be content with my calling, and not to desire my sister’s or brother’s calling.
Transform my mind, Lord Jesus, so that my life is no attempt to prove its value to you or to myself. Transform my life, that I may rest entirely confident, that when my life comes to completion in this world, it will be resumed in the next, by your power, out of your goodness, and for purposes known only to you. Amen.
A good reminder that God made us to be ourselves. We each have a calling (vocation) from God, no matter how difficult it may be to notice and affirm. I am grateful for yours!