Scripture Scribbles: January 18, 2026
the Gospel
John 1:29-34
John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said,
“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
He is the one of whom I said,
‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me
because he existed before me.’
I did not know him,
but the reason why I came baptizing with water
was that he might be made known to Israel.”
John testified further, saying,
“I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from heaven
and remain upon him.
I did not know him,
but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me,
‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain,
he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’
Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”
the scribble
“Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”
The past few weeks have been really difficult. In them, despair has felt overwhelming. The only scripture that has comforted me has been that psalm which Jesus cried out on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (Psalm 22:1).
Some days, these first few verses have been where my prayer ended: in tears, pain and darkness, drowning in the feeling of abandonment by God, in the feeling of being overtaken by the enemy.
By grace, my rational mind has held onto the truths of our faith. In the storm of overwhelming lies from the enemy tempting me to despair and to desperate self-reliance, I have repeated the things that I know about God to myself:
God is holy. (Psalm 22:4)
God is only good. (Exodus 34:6)
God does not abandon. (2 Timothy 2:13)
God cares deeply about my suffering (Psalm 34:19, Psalm 56:9).
God’s presence is not proven through consolation or circumstance. (Romans 8:38-39)
God’s love is not proven through consolation or circumstance.(Romans 5:8)
God began a good work in me and he will complete it (Philippians 1:6)
This experience has reduced me. All that is left is God’s holiness and the choice of whether or not I will obey him. I think that can sound cruel (and I have struggled with this in this time). It can sound as if God doesn’t care how I feel, he just wants me to comply. But the roots of the word obey emphasize a deep, attentive response, one based in communion, rather than passive compliance.
So I think this is what God is asking of me: to go deeper with him. To go deeper than I have ever gone; deeper than feelings of comfort, deeper than feelings of consolation, deeper than understanding why. To attentively be with him in the depths.
I am there right now.
I don’t have any of my own strength to muster in this so all I can do is be still and know that he is God (Psalm 46:11).
I know, through Christ, through John the Baptist, through the lives of the saints, and through the witness of faithful friends and family unfolding all around me today, that obedience to love– and Love is who God is (1 John 4:8)— leads to suffering and death.
But death leads to resurrection and redemption (John 11:25-26).
And that is where my hope is today.
If I have gone from the Agony in the Garden, to the Crucifixion, the next mystery is the Resurrection, wherein the wounds of suffering and death are glorified (Isaiah 53:5) and dry bones (Ezekiel 37:1-14) are brought to life .
So, like John the Baptist today, I choose to obey. I choose to abide in the depths while his glory is made known in this. I choose to accept this littleness and to very simply live today’s Gospel: “Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”
Today’s devotion was written by Lucia Parker DeMarco
