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Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel. And he answered and spoke to those who were standing before him, saying, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” Again he said to him, “See, I have made your iniquity pass away from you and will clothe you with festal robes.”

Zechariah 3:3–4, LSB

Joshua, the priest who returned with the exiles from Babylon, was delayed in completing the work he was called to do in Jerusalem for twenty years. He had lost sight of who he was in God and the calling God had placed on his life. In times of difficulty, we can easily lose sight of God and not worship Him as He deserves. We can miss out on His callings as we wallow in self-pity and are deceived by Satan's lies. Yet, God does not allow us to stay there forever. As He did for Joshua, He often does for all His chosen and gives a reflection back of the errors in our lives. When we hear God’s word and are moved because we see negative elements of ourselves or a yearning is placed in our hearts to pursue something we feel lacking in our lives, this is the Lord’s work. He calls us away from those things that are not representative of who we are meant to be. He will remove the filth that covers us and place on us festal robes. Our Lord richly covers us in His covering and removes our guilt and shame. He seeks to restore us and make us upright so that we may know His peace.

Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.