Tue., Mar. 15/22
Monday morning and I am feeling particularly stressed again. Unable to sleep I rise, feed the cat, and begin my morning exercises. Do familiar things, the experts say, things you find calming… normal. As a Christian, I pray as I work through the movements. I ask God for that ”peace which passes all understanding” and which He promises His children (Phil. 4:7). Nothing!
Still stressed, I pick up an online crossword printed on scrap paper. Deep knee bends accommodate themselves to crosswords and crosswords help distract the monotony. On the backside of the scrap paper, a handout apparently from some seminar, some time, some place, I notice the neatly typed notes:
Four things that I must understand in the midst of my trial:
- HE BROUGHT ME HERE. (Isa. 48:17).
- HE WILL KEEP ME HERE, IN HIS LOVE. (Rom. 8:35).
- HE WILL MAKE THE TRIAL A BLESSING. (Job 42:12).
- IN HIS GOOD TIME, HE WILL BRING ME OUT AGAIN. (Ps. 20:6).
Beside them were scrawled the scriptures,
- “I am the Lord your God, Who teaches you what is best for you, Who directs you in the way you should go.” (Isa. 38:17).
- “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?…” (Rom. 8:35).
- “The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part.” (Job 42:12).
- “Now this I know: The Lord gives victory to his anointed.” (Ps. 20:6).
A simple moment. A moment many would call “chance.” But a moment in which the insightful Christian sees clearly the hand of God. I thanked our Lord for this encouragement, even as I counted of my deep knee bends. I thanked Him too that He is now. In my everyday moments, as I go about my everyday things. He is with His own at all times… mine, and yours.
“…He made all the nations… that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from any one of us. ‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’” (Acts 17:26-28).
Press on…
Pressing on... 