Today’s readings are filled with fear, anxiety, grief, pain and troubles.  They are also filled with hope and healing.

Look at the problems Jacob is facing.  He has left home, fleeing to save his life because his twin brother plans to kill him.  He does not know what lies ahead for him or if he will see his mother and father again.  At the start of today’s reading, we find him on his own using a stone for a pillow.

In the Gospel reading, a father is distraught because his daughter has died.  The man, an official in the local synagogue, has left his grieving family to beg Jesus for a miracle.

As Jesus accompanies the man to his home, He crosses paths with a woman with a long-term health issue.  Imagine the physical challenges and discomfort she felt, and then think of the emotional strain of being socially isolated by a condition that made her “unclean” in Jewish society.

In each of these stories, we find God present – in Jacob’s dream or incarnate in the Gospel.  How reassuring it must have been for Jacob to hear God say, “Know that I am with you.  I will protect you wherever you go and bring you back to this land.”  How joyful it must have been for the Jewish official to see his daughter brought back to life.  How relieved the woman must have felt to be cured and able to rejoin society.

I am encouraged by the words of the psalmist recalling God’s promise to be with us in distress whether it is great or small.  I am grateful for God’s mercy and compassion, which are available to each of us.  There is more to this, though, than just me receiving God’s blessing.  Paul, writing to the Corinthians, reminds us:  “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4, NIV)

Hear our prayer, O Lord.  Incline your ear to us and grant us your peace.