Daily Devotional for November 18, 2012

Psalm 34:18
If your heart is broken, you’ll find God right there; if you’re kicked in the gut, he’ll help you catch your breath.

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.

I haven’t “had the breath knocked out of me” in years…can’t even remember when it happened last. But I do remember the feeling… that momentary shock and fright – and wonder if “this was IT!” Then the breath returned, and other than maybe being sore from falling so hard, everything returned to normal. Usually, this happens in a group – like playing kickball as a kid – and others rush to your side to make sure you are okay.

When my grandmother fell last Christmas Eve on our driveway and hit her head, I am fairly certain she was momentarily dazed – if not unconscious. We hurried to her, and I held her head off the pavement until the ambulance arrived with EMTs to assist her. The night my dad suffered a massive stroke, I remember my husband going to the car to retrieve his C-pap machine (a device that aides in breathing if you have sleep apnea). When my husband returned from the parking lot, the doors to the waiting room swung open, and there on either side of him were two of my dearest cousins who had come to support us. I know beyond any doubt that they were real-life angels sent by God. And did we ever need them, because my dad did not survive… and our hearts were broken.

Let’s face it… life kicks all of us in the gut at least once or twice. And for a moment, it’s like having the breath knocked out of you. We wonder what to do, maybe even panic a little – and fear the worst. The GOOD NEWS is that God is right there with us, and He will give us everything we need to catch our breath. He will mend our broken hearts… maybe not right away…but in His time. He will show us a way out of whatever dilemma we face. God will never leave us.

If we will just hold on to this thought…if we will simply trust that with God, all things are possible, then the “kicks in the gut” that are bound to happen in life won’t seem fatal. We really have no clue what we can endure with God’s help. I’m not asking to find out… but I am certainly aware that I can deal with whatever comes my way. If God can give Jesus’ mother, Mary, the courage and strength to watch her Son be tortured and crucified on a cross… don’t you think He can help you manage your “gut-checks?” Don’t give up hope. Cry out to God, and call on Him to draw near. You’ll find He was already there all along.

©2012 Debbie Robus