Mid-week Devotional:

Week of March 22, 2026

Scripture for this week’s Mid-week Devotional comes from the Old Testament book of Psalm, Psalm 28:7.

Hear the Word of God,

“7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts; so I am helped, and my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.”

This is God’s word for God’s people. Thanks be to God. AMEN.

This week has been a week of catching up. The “catch up” part focused on getting back to our normal daily routine after spending 2 weeks with my youngest brother and his wife exploring west Texas parks and a nature preserve. Among our “catch up” tasks were washing clothes, cleaning house, and going to the grocery store to stock up on food. Those were easy tasks.

The hardest task for me to “catch up” on was the task of trimming line fences, flower beds, a vegetable garden, and numerous trees where we live. We have 2.5 acres within the area that surrounds our home and another 2.5 acres of pasture. Trimming doesn’t sound like hard work but carrying a battery powered trimmer for 3-4 hours straight is tough. By the end of it my back aches. While I am trimming John is busy weeding and watering our gardens.

Through the years of growing up on a farm in Minnesota everyone had at least one task to do each day. One of my tasks was carrying pails of feed across the yard for the sheep. I was young then, but I am not so young anymore. This week, I asked John to take a break from his job of weeding to help me trim the pasture. Asking for help is hard for me. John didn’t complain about having to leave his work to help me. We finished the task together and I realized for the first time in years that I wasn’t crabby when the task was done. Instead, I was thankful for John’s presence beside me. We both had big smiles on our faces when we closed the gate into the pasture with its trimmed fence lines.

Thinking back on the task we completed together I gained a new perspective of God’s presence beside me every second of each day throughout my life.

-God has been there beside me through the tough times and the good times.

-God has been there beside me every day with every breath I have taken while I was awake and when I was asleep.

-God never complains about being beside me 24/7.

In the days to come take time to pause and take a deep breath when the tasks before you appear daunting…

-May you remember the words from Psalm 28, “7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts; so I am helped, and my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.”

-May you feel God’s loving presence surrounding you with love and peace.

AMEN.