Forward Movement is an official, non-profit agency of the Episcopal Church whose mission is to create compelling content for Christian living. Since 1935 we have published the quarterly devotional Forward Day by Day, as well as pamphlets, booklets, and books that encourage and nourish people in their lives of prayer and faith.
TUESDAY, June 16 (Joseph Butler)
Acts 1:15-26. And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.
As God's adopted children, it is important that we be about our Father's business. But how do we apply that grand idea specifically? How do we know God's will for this moment of our life?
Standard answers to these questions include Bible study, prayer, and listening to that still, small voice within. But sometimes, no matter how much we read, pray, and listen, God is silent.
Exodus 28:30 tells us that God directed Moses to place the Urim and the Thummim in Aaron's "breastpiece of judgment." The Urim and the Thummim were sacred lots, the equivalent of a tossed coin.
The disciples were faced with picking an apostle to replace Judas. Both candidates had been disciples of Jesus; they were equally qualified, so the disciples cast lots. Did God influence the outcome? Perhaps. But I believe he doesn't need to, because God uses whatever we offer to his own ends. Sometimes there is nothing to do but toss a coin. Then move forward in faith.
PRAY for the Diocese of Kwara (Province I, Nigeria)
Ps 78:1-39 * 78:40-72; 1 Samuel 1:21-2:11; Luke 20:19-26
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