I have not quite gotten over our women's Sunday school lesson two mornings ago. Our pastor's wife was discussing John 3:16-18, which was wonderful in itself, but somehow Psalm 63:7 was referenced, and she recited a poem that her friend had written and I don't recall a thing that was said after that. I am embarrassed to admit it, but I got "stuck" on the Psalm. I know I have read it before...but I suppose that within the context of the rest of the chapter, its beauty was lost on me.
I have been going through what I affectionately call "some stuff" lately. The demands of being a wife, mom, homeschooler, children's church worker, business owner, daughter, friend--you get the picture...Well, sometimes it's a little more than I "want" to handle. I know that God is all the strength I'll ever need, and all I have to do is tap into His incredible power through prayer...but sometimes I feel like my connection has gone faulty. Sometimes, all I hear is static. Oh, I know He's there, He's always been there. It's me who has been distracted, even absent at times. It's easy to rejoice and praise God when everything is going right, much harder (and the true test of the believer comes) when it seems nothing WILL ever be right again.
I think back to that Psalm and reflect on the fact that David was so good at praising God through the bad times in the desert...but I think it was because it was based on his first-hand experiences of God's goodness, which we all have record of in our own lives. Charles Spurgeon said it so well: “Meditation had refreshed his memory and recalled to him his past deliverances. It were well if we oftener read our own diaries, especially noting the hand of the Lord in helping us in suffering, want labor, or dilemma. This is the grand use of memory, to furnish us with proofs of the Lord’s faithfulness, and lead us onward to a growing confidence in Him”.
Instead of feeling utterly alone during our darkest hours, we are to be reminded of the fact that “it is our duty to rejoice in the shadow of God’s wings, which denotes our recourse to Him by faith and prayer, as naturally as the chickens, when they are cold or frightened, run by instinct under the wings of the hen. It intimates also our reliance upon Him as able and ready to help us and our refreshment and satisfaction in His care and protection” [Spurgeon].
After reading Heather's update today, I was genuinely moved to tears. Her circumstances make everything I've ever thought about going through in my life seem so insignificant. Though I pray neither I nor my family will ever have to find out, I wonder how I would react in her situation. I can only hope and pray that I would rejoice in the shadow of God's love as she has. She states that, "Bad things are going to happen. Its inevitable. Facing them with hope and power makes the journey so much more possible. Facing the pain knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that my future is secure, and my eternity is claimed- that is an indescribable feeling."
How about you? Won't you join me as I rejoice in the shadow of God's love this year? And let's all be about praying for Heather, while we are at it. James 5:16 states that we should "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."
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