Lord Jesus Christ, Teach Me to See

Daily Office Readings for Sunday, August 23, 2026:
Psalms 111, 112, 113, 146, 147; Job 4:1–6, 12–21; Revelation 4:1–11; Mark 6:1–6a

Today’s Daily Office readings show four different reactions to the events of life.

The writers of today’s Psalms offer praise, adoration, and recognition that the Lord reigns forever. God’s power is absolute, and all that God does is great and good.

Job has lost his possessions and his children, and he is now sitting in the ash heap suffering physically. His friends have come to sit with him and offer him advice and support. Eliphaz goes first. He reminds Job that Job has encouraged and strengthened others when they suffered, but now that trouble has come to Job, he has become discouraged. He asks Job, “Is not your fear of God your confidence?”

Then we see a glimpse of heaven.

The residents of heaven bow before the One who sits on the throne, the One described as the God “who was and is and is to come.” They declare that God is worthy to receive glory, honor, and power because God created everything, and everything exists because God created all things.

The fourth scene takes us to Nazareth.

Jesus returns there to minister among the people who saw him grow up in the home of Mary and Joseph. The residents reject Jesus and do not believe because they do not see or understand who he is. They see Jesus as one of them, someone who grew up in Nazareth among them. His brothers and sisters are known to them, and so is his mother. They think they know him.

It is so easy to praise God when we are in a church service or when something good happens. It is harder when we experience what Job experienced.

Sometimes our families and the people closest to us cannot see what God is doing in our lives, just as the residents of Nazareth could not see what God was doing through Jesus.

But then we get a glimpse of what is and what will be.

God is the Creator of all things, and God is worthy to receive our praise. God is with us when we suffer like Job. Our friends, our families, and those who see us day in and day out may not see how God is working in our lives. They cannot always see or understand because they, like us, are limited.

We are looking through glass that is frosted over.

The Orthodox Church uses the Jesus Prayer as a way of bringing us continually into the presence of Christ through the ordinary experiences of our daily lives:

Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.

Lord Jesus Christ, teach me to see.

Lord Jesus Christ, heal what is wounded.

Lord Jesus Christ, be present with me.

May the God who created us and all things grant us the peace that passes all understanding.

Amen.