Sunday Reflection

Devotional – “Steady Hearts in Shaking Times”

Luke 21:5–19 invites us into a moment of honesty with Jesus. The disciples are admiring the temple — a symbol of stability, identity, and national pride. Jesus responds by saying that even the most impressive structures will fall. In other words:

Don’t build your life on what can crumble.

Jesus is not trying to frighten us. He is telling the truth about life in a world that changes, shakes, and sometimes shatters. There are seasons when the “temple walls” we rely on fall — our routines, our health, our security, even our confidence in what comes next.

But notice what Jesus offers in place of fear:

endurance — patient, steady, faithful trust.

Not heroics.

Not bravado.

Not pretending everything is fine.

Just keeping close to Jesus, step by step.

He says, “By your endurance you will gain your souls.” This is not salvation by effort. It is the discovery that when we refuse to give up — when we keep praying, keep serving, keep seeking Christ — we find that God is already holding us.

Faith isn’t proven in calm seasons — it is for the shaking times.

So today’s calling is simple and beautiful:

Keep going.

Stay with Jesus.

Trust that grace is enough for this day.

God is not asking you to be strong — only to remain with the One who is.

Hymn Verse (from Singing the Faith)

STF 531: “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” – Verse 1

What a friend we have in Jesus,

all our sins and griefs to bear!

What a privilege to carry

everything to God in prayer!

O what peace we often forfeit,

O what needless pain we bear —

all because we do not carry

everything to God in prayer.

This verse holds the same invitation:

Don’t carry the world alone.

Prayer

God of steadfast love,

in a world that often trembles and changes,

be our centre and our peace.

When we feel uncertain, steady our hearts.

When we feel weary, strengthen our steps.

Teach us to endure —

not by our own strength,

but by resting in yours.

Stay with us in the ordinary moments

and in the difficult ones,

and keep us faithful to Christ,

who holds us, now and always.

Amen.