Sometimes it’s good to live life adventurously; sometimes we crave constancy. I’m traveling Europe vicariously from photos of three families touring all the sites of Paris, London, and Rome. While I’ve never visited these places in this life, I’ve dreamed of doing so. So, I’m reveling in pictures of the Louvre, the cathedrals, and the city streets I’ve longed to visit.
But, in contrast, Ev and I have discovered the old movies channel and have been watching movies made in the childhood of films, and have revisited the habits, dress, and thinking of the 1940’s and 1950’s and realized that those times are no more! The napkin rings, the dial telephones, the conservative fashions, the humble foods, and the mores and customs.
In this fast-paced chaotic world of social media and cable news blocks when every thing is an “alert,” I think it’s good to remember the once constant that has guided me all these 82 1/2 years: that whatever happens in the whole universe, God is constant. He is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and Omega, and whether I read Genesis or Revelation, He is present and sovereign over all.
His promise to Noah and to Simeon is the same. He will be our God; we will be His people.
In Isaiah we read: “So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun; when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.” That assures me that, as my book title proclaims, Life-Changing Water: Chaos to Glory: A metaphor Study” God is unchanging and we are His if we worship His majesty.
No matter what occurs in this day, or in any of our series of days, God is almighty, limits the suffering, blesses the blesses the blessings, and is in charge, in every situation, in every joy, in every trial, in every thought, and in each nanosecond.
MY PSALM 325 TRIALS
Dear Heavenly Father, Creator, yet Abba, Father,
Your rich blessings fall on me
Like the thunderous showers.
You drench me with Your love,
You saturate me with Your Presence
Whenever I call on Your Blessed Name.
From the desert of nonchalance,
You raise me to remembrance
Of noticing the big things, the little things,
And treating both with Thanksgiving.
You place in my life members of Your cloud of witnesses
Who nourish me with reminders of Your grace,
You remind me of Your constant Presence.
You bless me with those around me
In my very time of need and want,
And provide Oases of life-giving sustenance
When I most need Your grace.
Thank You for being a very present help
In times of distress, in moments of hurt
In moments of grief and sorrow,
In times of doubt.
Thank You for giving hope when things seem hopeless.
Thank You for being Creator of all good things
Prince of peace, and bringer of tidings of good news
When I languish, looking for answers.
Thank You for providing for the needs
Of my brothers and sisters in Christ who are hurting.
You have told us You will provide for our needs.
I have seen it first-hand these last months
When dear ones have been afflicted.
You have cared for them
You have allowed, yeah strengthened me to bless them.
I walk in confidence. Your Word is abundantly present,
Not just in times of old, but in these very moments of need
When reserves are depleted, and desperation seems real.
I pray for safety for these loved ones You have sent to me.
Guide their life-decisions, their thoughts,
Their resources, their paths,
And bring them to places of thanksliving
For having blessed them in their trials.
You have already blessed me by blessing them,
And I thank You for lessons learned.
Through troubled waters, You provide the Life-line,
The rescue, the steady hand,
And throughout, just as the Psalmist says,
“If I make my bed in the depths, You are there.[1]
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,[2]
If I settle on the far side of the sea, You are there.”
We have learned these last days,
“Your hand will guide me,[3]
Your right hand will hold me fast.”
Praised be Your Name in the storm,
And in the appearance of Your covenantal rainbow. Amen.
[1] Psalm 139: 8
[2] Psalm 139: 9
[3] Psalm 139: 10
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