December 1, 2018

Only God Understands

“Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him;

I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

He will call on me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble,

I will deliver him and honor him.

– Psalm 91:14-15

We never know when trouble will slam into us, knocking the very breath from us and sending us onto a path we never expected to take. We cling to God because He is the only One who can carry us through to safety.

Yesterday a dear friend went in for what was supposed to be a routine procedure. The doctors found something and now she faces major surgery on Monday. What?! It wasn’t supposed to be this way.

Another sweet friend tripped and fell earlier in the week. She’s got a broken shoulder and a husband who was already facing surgery of his own. Their plans didn’t matter in that moment of disaster.

The father of another friend was admitted into rehab yesterday. It’s the best place for him, though her mother is beyond distraught. He fell again, this time with breaks, and he needs strength if he’s to continue to stay at home. It’s an impossible situation. My friend just had surgery earlier in the week. She can’t carry the load and, yet, she must.

My heart aches for them all. I know how quickly life can turn, how a normal day can end in the ER. I understand the tears that come when you’re doing what you must but it’s hurting the people you love the most. Tough times. Tough decisions. You are overwhelmed.

God knows. God understands. God will carry you through the storm.

We can walk beside the people we love and help in so many ways. We can bring food, offer to drive or sit with someone. We can certainly pray. We can send cards or buy groceries. There are just so many ways to help. But we can’t truly know what they’re suffering. Only God truly understands.

We think we know. We’ve gone through tough times. Some of us have spent endless hours in hospitals and rehab, coordinating home health and doctors and dressing wounds and dispensing medicine. And we do know. Except we don’t. Because every journey is different. Every person is different. Only God truly understands.

Life happens, as they say. It’s filled with peaks and valleys and just long, hard days in between. Lean on God. Trust Him. Don’t expect to have the strength to make it through on your own. You don’t and you won’t. But He does. When the days are long and your shattered heart can’t take another step, He will carry you. I promise. God truly does understand.

May 2, 2016

Safety Comes With Jesus

So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

-- Isaiah 41:10

There’s a lot to fear in this world. I know. We’re not supposed to be afraid. It shows a lack of trust in God. Yet fear remains.

I think the reason we are told not to be afraid -- like 365 times -- is because God understood we would have a problem with fear. He wanted to reassure us that He is near and in control.

Fear can be about so many different things. Every day I pray for a baby I do not know, a tiny little guy fighting for his life in Boston. He’s only five months old and has already dealt with so many health issues. I can’t imagine the fear his parents feel, fear that they will lose him, fear that there won’t be enough money to sustain them as they stand vigil so far from home.

So I pray, as do countless others. Because I know that God is there with them. I know that God will carry them through this unknown journey.

An elderly couple in a neighboring county were recently targeted, assaulted, robbed. Finally, the men have been arrested. But where is our sense of security? When did things like that begin happening in rural areas where most everybody knows everybody else?

Maybe these things have always happened. It’s just that now, because of instant news access and social media, we just know so much more. Sometimes that it good. Sometimes it isn’t.

Another sweet couple struggled after both of them lost their jobs. They were within one payment of losing their home. Their kids were afraid, asking their parents where they would live. Finally, one of them got a job and their home was saved.

The fear remains deep inside. They’ve learned that you can do everything right -- no credit card bills, no debt beyond a mortgage, savings to last a few months -- and still have your financial world fall apart. They never expected both of them to be laid off at the same time. They never expected to have so much trouble getting another job. They know it could happen again.

And, yet, God is ever present. The couple with the baby? An anonymous donor paid the $25,000 cost to fly their son -- on life support at the time -- to the special hospital he needed for surgery.

A reason to smile, to hope, to believe, in the midst of a fallen world. God is with us. Yahweh. Lord. Savior. King. Jesus wins. We’re safe because we rest in His arms.

Thursday, February 16. 2012

God Watches Over Us

The LORD himself watches over you! The LORD stands beside you as your protective shade. -- Psalm 121:5

Word came a few hours ago that a church member was headed back to surgery. The next 24 hours are critical. She had surgery recently so a trip back to the operating room at night is a bad thing.

I don’t know her. I don’t know her family. But I prayed for her just the same. I prayed for them too. Because it’s what we do in the family of Christ. We care. We pray. We trust God to be in every situation.

During some seasons of life it seems that despair is just everywhere. An elderly gentleman went to the doctor with a backache. He was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He has a choice now. Two months to live if he says no treatment and maybe a year to live if he has treatment. We pray for this man and his family.

Two other wonderful people are entering a season of life most of us dread. He has Alzheimer’s. She fell a few weeks ago and broke bones that make it impossible for her to drive or care for him. He’s in a facility that specializes in Alzheimer’s patients. She’s depending on friends and family for transportation and care. We don’t know if he’ll ever come home. We don’t know when she’ll be able to care for herself again. We pray for them both.

That’s how it is when we’re part of God’s family. We turn first to Him for strength, for healing, for guidance when it seems that the world is crashing down around us. We cry out and immediately His hand steadies us amidst the turmoil and pain. I can’t imagine how anyone makes it through the valley without Him.

Several years ago I underwent unexpected surgery. I still remember the voice of the man who wheeled me toward the operating room as he sang hymns. The words comforted me. I have no idea what songs he sang. I don’t even know his name. I just remember being thankful for the reminder that God was there, present, with me as I lay there.

He never leaves us alone. We know that in our minds. Do we know it in our hearts? He is with our church member in the operating room even as I write these words. He is with that dear man faced with impossible choices and a likely quicker-than-planned trip home. He is with that dear couple as their lives are turned upside-down from illness and injury. He is with you and me no matter what we face, no matter what time of day or night, and no matter how long the journey.

Tuesday, December 3, 2012

God Protects His Own

The LORD is my strength, my shield from every danger. I trust in him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving. -- Psalm 28:7

Last year was one of those years I’d really rather not repeat. Nothing especially bad happened. Nothing especially good happened either. It was a year when joy seemed to evaporate even as new, wonderful challenges emerged.

Have you ever been surrounded by people who wish you harm? Maybe a co-worker or family member? A neighbor or former friend? You forgive and you forgive but the strain of it all takes an emotional toll. It just drains your energy.

David understood. He’d done all he could to support Saul and yet this man was determined to kill David. It’s easy to say Saul was possessed by Satan or he was insane. Probably both. But those things didn’t negate David’s very real danger or his anguish at constantly being on guard for the next attack.

Sometimes I feel ridiculous. It’s so easy to laugh off one small incident. Maybe even two or three. But one by one they add up and one day you look around and you aren’t laughing anymore. Because it isn’t funny. It’s sad. And it hurts. Do you understand? Have you faced that kind of enemy? Maybe you’re facing that enemy now.

God gets it. He understands. He strengthens me. He strengthens you. He shields us from danger and fills us with joy. It’s how we can face each day. It’s how we withstand the barbs and lies, the backstabbing and insults.

I’ll probably never really understand why some people need to cut other people down to feel better about themselves. And I’ll never understand why some people lie easily and don’t seem to think anything is wrong with doing so. But I don’t have to let their actions destroy me. Neither do you.

God sustained David. His love filled David with joy. And it can fill us with joy as well. We can withstand anything because we know that God has already won the war. He has defeated the enemy. God will protect us from those who seek to harm us. Trust Him. He won’t let you down.

Friday, October 1, 2010

God Is Present In All Things

"I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father protect them by the power of your name -- the name you gave me -- so that they may be one as we are one." -- John 17: 11b

I have been having a difficult time lately with asking God to protect those I care about. I still do it. I've talked to God, prayed to God, so many times over the years. I've asked for healing and comfort for myself and others. I've asked Him to protect people I care about. I've asked Him to reveal Himself to those I thought were lost.

Sometimes He has answered immediately. I have known His healing. I have felt His protection. I have seen Him work in the lives of others. I know He hears my prayers. I know that. My heart yearns for Him. I want to feel Him next to me, guiding me, protecting me.

Then there are the times when He doesn't. I understand that people make choices that sometimes have deadly consequences. I know. Fallen world. Satan. I really have read the book. But if I can't count on God to protect those I love, then why ask Him? Why beg Him for healing? Am I like David, praying to God to please change His mind and let my loved one live? Surely I can't not ask. He might grant my wish, just like He might say no.

I know I don't get the big picture. He has a plan. I know He wants only good things for me and all those He loves. And I know we have free will to make mistakes that come with consequences. I guess I just want Him to fix the mistakes so that good people don't have to die. I want the bad stuff to go away.

It doesn't work that way. God carries us through the pain. He is with us always. And sometimes He does reach down and knock Satan away, restoring health and saving us from certain catastrophes. He even saves us from headaches. I am so thankful that today He was there to save both the coyote and my Mother's car.

I will continue to ask God for protection and healing and His Presence in my life. I need Him. I love Him. I want to do His will and I want His will to rule my life. I am so grateful that He is there in the big things and the little things. He is there. Always. The only One who has never, ever left me or forsaken me. I owe Him a debt I can never repay. I am so grateful. So very, very grateful. Yeah. I'll continue to pray. I love talking to God. And I really love it when I hear His voice, guiding me and protecting me and leading me on toward Home.