It has been a rough couple of weeks at our house. My husband was the first to come down with a cold, and he is telling people I didn't even thank him when he gave it to me! Along with a cold, I had been fighting issues in my stomach and intestines which I trace back to a meal with a salad bar. And, no, none of it was COVID related, as we both had to be tested to get into the local clinic for our routine blood work, and both tests came back negative.
In addition to feeling crappy physically, it has also been an emotionally draining week, which included the death of a classmate. His partner in life is also a dear friend of mine, one who shares many things in common with me, including the love of music. In the past we have done music together, and looking back, I'm not sure why we haven't done so lately. I guess the busyness of life always gets in the way. [Sad excuse!]
Then news of another tragedy reached us. Members of a family we know were involved in a car accident. The mother and teenage son had minimal injuries, but a daughter had multiple broken bones, and the youngest son, an 8 year old, had critical injuries, leaving him brain dead. The parents are close in age to my own children, with their children similar in age to my grandchildren. I kept thinking how totally unexpected it was in their world, and yet, through their faith in God, they are navigating the valley road.
So it was, physically and mentally drained, I headed back to the clinic this morning for an ultrasound of my liver. My provider didn't like some of the liver function numbers in my blood work, and wanted a closer look at things. Results won't be in until tomorrow or Friday, so back home I went to face a house in desperate need of cleaning.
Where would I even start? It was then I heard this little voice in my head say, "Start with Me!" I've heard that voice before, and knew I had been shoving God to the back burner lately. I found my Bible and did the daily reading assignment in the morning instead of squeezing it in last minute at the end of the day. It was satisfying to put a check mark behind "Read my Bible", but somehow the assignment in Ezra didn't have much to feed my soul.
Then came the voice again, "Why not read a Psalm, too?" It seemed like a good plan. There is something about the Psalms that fits every up and down of life. But which one? I decided to just open my Bible somewhere in the middle, and found myself looking at Psalm 107.
Several verses had been underlined from past times of reading, and interestingly, they all said basically the same thing:
"Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered [saved, brought] them from their distress."
Interesting. Verses 6, 13, 19, and 28 were close to repeats of each other. Investigating further, I found there was more of a pattern than these similar verses. Each section talked about God's people getting themselves into trouble, and after crying out to the Lord, He was faithful to help them out of their struggle.
My favorite verse was the last one in the chapter, verse 43:
"Whoever is wise, let him heed these things and consider the great love of the Lord."
It was all I needed to face every bit of physical and mental stress. . .just consider the great love of the Lord. Simple. I went on to have a very productive day. Seems this often happens when you put God first. Let's see if I can remember this lesson when the test of the busy holiday season hits us! In the meantime, I am thankful for family and friends who pray, and the assurance of God's great love, come what may.
Have a Blessed and Very Happy Thanksgiving!
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