LENT Day 16

Lent Devotional

Day 16 – Saturday, March 7 2026

"Remembering What God Has Already Done"

Author: Erech Pierson

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Scripture: Mark 4:41 & Psalm 77:11

“One time when I was in the army…” as my wife nudges me with her elbow to indicate to me that I have told that story before. And quite honestly, she probably didn’t think it was very good the 1st 5 times I have told it. We all love to revisit the “Glory Days” or the “Good Ol’ Days” whether it is high school sports teams or how church “used to be”. Why don’t we often use that same sentimentality to remind us of how good God has been to us and to encourage us to move forward in faith, knowing that He is still the same God?

Mark 4:35-41 recounts the story of the disciples crossing the sea in a boat, while Jesus is sleeping on the same boat. The winds and waves are tossing them about and they panic and beg Jesus to save them from drowning, practically accusing Him of not caring. He calmly rises in the boat and rebukes the storm and the commotion stops. Just like that. Then He faces them and is disappointed in their lack of faith. The craziest part is that at this point in the story, they have already seen Him cast out demons and heal many sick people including a paralyzed man and a man with leprosy. How quick they were to forget about His triumphs and focus on their trials.

Psalm 77 paints for us a picture of national crisis in the nation of Israel, surrounded and threatened by a siege of Jerusalem. Asaph, a Levite who leads worship in the temple, pleads with God and begins to feel like his pleas are going unheard. He feels like his prayer are being unanswered. Then in verse 11, he sets his mind on a time, when he knows that God was leading the entire nation and remembers the mighty works of a God that led them from captivity. It is ironic that he even mentions how God used the waves and wind and water to defeat their enemyin that situation, quite the opposite of the disciples dilemma. But he is encouraged by the memory of how God led His people like a flock, guiding and protecting them. This is not to suggest that trials are not real. That the pain of emotional hurt is any less. That financial, family and health problems don’t exist. But instead to remind us that we serve a God who can control global socio political realms, who can control the very fabric of nature bymerely speaking a word. How could we forget that God has conquered death and the grave, He can certainly handle our doubts and grief.

Prayer

Father, thank you for being the creator, protector, and savior of the universe, and thank you for being so mindful of me and my individual needs. May I be reminded that whether it was generations ago like for Asaph, or weeks ago like it was for the disciples, that I can count on your past goodness to shine through in my situation today. May I reminded each day that your unfailing love and faithfulness endure, with me, forever. Amen.