Proverbs 3:7-12
Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
he’s the one who will keep you on track.
Don’t assume that you know it all.
Run to God! Run from evil!
Your body will glow with health,
your very bones will vibrate with life!
Honor God with everything you own;
give him the first and the best.
Your barns will burst,
your wine vats will brim over.
But don’t, dear friend, resent God’s discipline;
don’t sulk under his loving correction.
It’s the child he loves that God corrects;
a father’s delight is behind all this.
Scripture
quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002
by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs,
CO. All rights reserved.
Today would be the 67th
birthday of Greg’s brother, Bruce, who died on December 31st, 2015.
This cold, sunny morning, we visited his grave site for the first
time…along with Greg’s mother. We also went to the cemetery where my
mother was buried 11 days later. If you had told me even a month ago
that we would bury these two loved ones so soon, I would have said you
were crazy. And yet…here we are.
One of these days, I will stop
talking about grief and our recent losses…I promise. But several of
you are “in the trenches” along with us right now, and I hope that my
insights are helpful – for all of us. Our emotions are still extremely
raw…our grief is still profound. And try as I might to squelch these
feelings, I cannot.
When I turn to scripture, I see that there is
every reason to experience grief – and no reason to try to suppress
it. To do so suggests that we have this all figured out on our own…that
we don’t need the guidance and comfort of God…that we know it all! And
nothing could be further from the truth.
Psalm 94:19 says, “And
when I was burdened with worries, you comforted me and made me feel
secure.”(CEV) Psalm 142:1-3 says “I cry out loudly to God, loudly I
plead with God for mercy. I spill out all my complaints before him, and
spell out my troubles in detail: “As I sink in despair, my spirit ebbing
away, you know how I’m feeling, know the danger I’m in, the traps
hidden in my path.”(MSG) And later in that same Psalm, verse 7 ends
with this…“Your people will form a circle around me and you’ll bring me
showers of blessing!”
God is showing us things, even in our grief
and sadness. He is not punishing us. He is ushering us into more of a
dependency on Him…demonstrating His strength and ability to comfort and
make sense of our confusion. As we find ourselves wandering aimlessly
through the day, God keeps us on track. Several times in the last couple
of weeks, I’ve looked back and wondered how on earth I accomplished
what I did in the state in which I have been. I know instantly that I
did not do these things – God did!
So I am learning not to run
from these feelings, weird and uncomfortable though they may be. I am
trusting God to sort it all out – and in HIS timing! I am believing
that He will give me a sense of direction and purpose again…heal my
heart and soul – and even make me stronger because of all of this. I
pray that you are allowing God to do the same work in your life.
Whether you are grieving the loss of loved ones or working through
something else, God wants to determine your course – and keep you on
it. Will you allow Him to do this? Shouldn’t you?
©2016 Debbie Robus
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