This devotion comes from our deaconess, Sarah Newton:

Dear Christian friends, I pray this finds you happy and well.

But if not, you’re not alone.

I pray this finds you calm and at peace.

But if not, you’re not alone.

I pray this finds you unafraid of the days ahead.

But if not, you’re not alone.

I pray this finds you joyful, not mourning loss.

But if not, you’re not alone.

I pray this finds you without pain or sorrow.

But if not, you’re not alone.

I pray this finds you surrounded by loved ones.

But if not, you’re not alone.

I pray this finds you free of anger and hurt.

But if not, you’re not alone.

I pray this finds you filled with hope, and not skepticism.

But if not, you’re not alone.

Not alone. 

“O LORD, you have searched me and known me!

You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.

You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.

Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.

You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.

Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?

If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,”

even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret,

intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them,

the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!

If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.”

Psalm 139:1-18

Fear not! I am with you, O be not dismayed, For I am your God and will still give you aid;

I’ll strengthen you, help you, and cause you to stand, Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

[How Firm a Foundation LSB 728:2]

Prayer: Heavenly Father, You have promised to neither leave us nor forsake us. Help us to find great comfort in your Word, in your faithfulness, and in your constant presence. To the very last, give us certain faith to trust that what you have said is true: we are not alone. In Jesus’ name, amen.