Lent Meditation: Day 11 - February 28, 2026

📖 Scripture Verse

My heart is in anguish within me,

the terrors of death have fallen upon me.

Fear and trembling come upon me,

and horror overwhelms me.

And I would say, “O that I had wings like a dove!

I would fly away and be at rest;

truly, I would flee far away;

I would lodge in the wilderness;

I would hurry to find shelter for myself

from the raging wind and tempest….

But I call upon God, and the Lord will save me.

Evening and morning and noon 

I utter my complaint and he will hear my voice.

He will redeem me unharmed.  Psalm 55:4-8, 16-18

🕯️Meditation

The prayers we find in the psalms give voice to a wide range of human emotions; they teach us that we can bring all our wild feelings to God in prayer.  Here the psalmist prays to God a very visceral and vivid desire to run away from his problems.  The psalmist wants to just fly away like a bird and get away from all the troubles of life.  But after unburdening the escapist impulse, he settles into hope and trust.  “I will call upon God, and the Lord will save me….I utter my complaint….He will redeem me….”

The urge to just thro up our hands, give up, and run away can come over us when times get hard, or problems feel unsolvable, or if I feel powerless to make a difference, or if I’m tired and frustrated.  Its ok to say that out loud to God.  It ok to complain of the too-much-ness that life sometimes seems to deliver.  While we are called to be rooted, to be steadfast and trust in God’s redemptive love, we still can honor our emotional experience when we are feeling tossed and frustrated and frightened and overwhelmed.  The scriptures show us that we can complain to God, we can tell God that it’s too much.  We can set that burden on him.  When you are troubled, say you are troubled.  Tell God, and ask for help.

🙏 Prayer

God when I feel like I just want to fly away from it all, give me the honesty to lay that on you.  Give me the grace to ask for help from you.  Give me grace to ask for help from those people whom I trust and who trust you. Amen.

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