Day 1: Honest about it

Start where you actually are, even if where you are is disappointed.

You probably did not arrive here neutral. Maybe you have watched church leaders chase attendance and budgets. Maybe you have sat for years beside people who seemed to care more about the building than about Jesus. Maybe you were hurt. Maybe you have simply stopped feeling anything on Sunday morning and wondered whether anyone else noticed.

Whatever it is, today you do not have to fix it, explain it or defend anyone. The first step back toward God is honesty: telling Him where you actually are.

The man who wrote today’s psalm was honest too. He looked around at people who claimed God and lived as if He did not matter, and it nearly knocked him off his feet. Read what he says, and notice where the turn comes.

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Check in

This is where you will look back at yesterday. For today, just notice how you are coming into this.

Anything you want to note before you start?

An honest prayer

Pray this as it is, or in your own words.

God, I am tired of pretending. Here is what I really feel about Your people, and about You. Meet me here, not where I am supposed to be.

Read

Psalm 73 (OTB)

¹God certainly is good to Israel, To those who are pure in heart! ²Yet my feet nearly stumbled, My steps almost slipped. ³For I was envious of the arrogant When I observed the success of the wicked. ⁴For they seem to have no struggles in their death, And their bodies are well-nourished. ⁵They do not face the troubles of others, Nor are they plagued like the rest of humanity. ⁶Therefore arrogance adorns them like a necklace; Violence clothes them like a garment. ⁷Their eyes bulge with abundance; The imaginations of their heart overflow. ⁸They scoff and speak with malice; They speak with haughty intent. ⁹They set their mouths against the heavens, And their tongues strut through the earth. ¹⁰Therefore their people turn to them, And they drink up waters in abundance. ¹¹They say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge with the Most High?” ¹²Behold, these are the wicked; Always at ease, they increase in wealth. ¹³Surely I have kept my heart pure in vain And washed my hands in innocence; ¹⁴For I have been afflicted all day long, And chastened every morning. ¹⁵If I had resolved to speak like this, Behold, I would have been unfaithful to Your children. ¹⁶When I tried to understand this, It was a burden to me ¹⁷Until I entered the sanctuary of God; Then I understood their final destiny. ¹⁸Surely You place them on slippery paths; You cast them down to ruin. ¹⁹How suddenly they are destroyed, Completely swept away by terrors! ²⁰Like a dream when one awakens, Lord, When You arise, You will despise their form. ²¹When my heart was grieved And my spirit was embittered, ²²I was senseless and ignorant; I was like a brute beast before You. ²³Nevertheless, I am continually with You; You uphold me by my right hand. ²⁴You lead me with Your wisdom, And afterward You will receive me into honour. ²⁵Whom have I in heaven but You? And on earth, I desire nothing besides You. ²⁶My flesh and my heart may falter, But God remains the strength of my heart and my portion forever. ²⁷For indeed, those who are far from You will perish; You destroy all who are unfaithful to You. ²⁸But as for me, it is good to be near God; I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge, That I may tell of all Your deeds.

Open in the Bible reader ↗

Listen to the reading

Read it twice

Retell it

Put what you just read into your own words, as if you were telling a friend.

Three questions

What does this say about God?
What does this say about people?
If this is true, what would I do today?

Today, I will

One specific thing you will do today because of what you read.One person you could tell what you read today

One line

Where might God have been in my day?

Scripture quotations are from the Open Translation Bible (OTB), used under CC BY-SA 4.0.