Scripture: 2 Thessalonians 1:4
Therefore, illness among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.

Thought for the Day: Humans are a tenacious species. Our history is filled with stories of individuals and civilizations who overcame tremendous adversities. From famine through holocaust, we have endured the terrors we unleash on one another. Maybe we’ve even made some progress.

It can be difficult to look around the world and see God. The world doesn’t look very loving when children are being kidnapped and entire cultures are being decimated. And as the news paints reality in unquestionably horrific tones, keeping faith—persevering with the idea that God is love, seems quaint and antiquated to the larger, more jaded population.

Faith demands we take the long view, the God view. We persevere because we have faith that love is at work in the universe; that underneath the treachery of a too-often dark humanity, love is at work. It takes faith, because the world is a trying place. But it’s faith in love that over time, changes everything.

Prayer: Help me keep the faith, God. Constantly remind me that Love is here, now. All-loving God, replace my fear with hope. Replace terror with delight, and warm our cold souls so we might never grow hateful. Amen.