Saturday, March 9, 2024  

---

Today's Hymn
“What Wondrous Love Is This”

When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down,
when I was sinking down, sinking down,
when I was sinking down
beneath God’s righteous frown,
Christ laid aside his crown for my soul, for my soul,
Christ laid aside his crown for my soul!

American folk hymn
Hymn 215, Glory to God
verse 2

---

Reflection

Many people who struggle with depression describe a descent, a free fall, a sinking down. I’ve yet to hear or read of anyone who claims “I am soaring high into a major depression.” When things aren’t going particularly well, I will say, “I’m at a low point.” No one faces failure with claims of a mountaintop view. For whatever reason, going lower seems to signal less-than-ideal conditions.

When one of my children was an infant, they faced a very scary health crisis. There were three days when we were not sure of their long-term prognosis. The only reasonable posture for my anguished prayers was completely face down on the floor. It was only when the crisis passed that I could imagine standing upright again.

What I have found is that when I am at my lowest, most sunken level, God shows up there. God, through Jesus, couldn’t bear to be separate from our experience and came to walk among us. There is no sunken place where God hasn’t been. There is no point so low that I am separated from God’s love.

What wondrous love indeed!

---

Prayer
God of glory and God of low points, I find comfort in your presence no matter what I’m facing. Now remind me to show up for others without judgment, pity, or shame. Bind me together with my neighbors for your sake. Amen.

---

Written by Andrea Denney, Executive Director of Operational Ministries

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

Devotion index by date | I’d like to receive daily devotions by email