We've all had them. Weeks where, if we believed in such things, we would wonder if someone was leering at a voodoo doll in our image and violently stabbing it with needles. I am in the middle of one of those weeks. Wait. It's Monday, so I'm heading into week two. Well, giddyup!
It all began last week when I started feeling ill. I ignored it for a few days, because that's just what I do. Ignorance is indeed sweet bliss. But, alas, my ignoring tactics failed me, and I headed to the doctor when I could evade my symptoms no longer. It was there where I was prescribed the antibiotic straight from the sulferous recesses of the seventh level of Hades. It cleared up my infection, but left ulcers and swelling from the tips of my lips to the innards of my esophogus. When I can't eat, the world will feel my fiery wrath! This, by the way, is why you are getting a blog instead of a video on this Monday. I look like I've had some killer Botox, but speaking makes me want to die.
Along with my initial sickness and new mouth full of molten lava, this past week I have also fallen off a deck (as detailed in my last post), had a leaky roof and a husband with a punctured tire and some vivid, distressing and extremely realistic nightmares about the demise of his family.
But you know what else we've had? A son who has gotten his braces off after 5 years in them. Sweet, much needed time with our out-of-town best friends paired with a safe, peaceful drive home afterwards. Cherished memories made with my high school friends. Days spent just being with Lou and Cooper since I didn't really want to go out. A freaking book signing! Joy to accompany the pain.
So, was it a week from Hell or Heaven? You know what? I don't really care. Here is what I know. I know that everything that comes my way must pass through God's loving hands. He will not let me endure anything He will not be present in. I will praise Him for the wonder as well as the thunder.
Because He is in it all. And He is faithful to tenderly walk me through it all and bring good out of it.
In comparison to the real problems this world faces, my week has been an itty, bitty blip on the suffering sonar. However, it has reminded me that sometimes life comes in an abrupt, aching avalanche. It can be suddenly painful, and we can be left speechless. What do we do in those moments?
We choose to trust Jesus. We go back to our foundation. What do we know to be absolutely true about God?
He is good.
He is involved.
He cares about you.
He is intimately invested in you. (Will He send His Son to die for you but then not take care of you afterward?)
He is powerfully able.
He wants victory and freedom for you.
He promises to NEVER leave you.
He will bring healing.
Your pain will not last forever.
There will be joy in the morning.
He Himself will help you. He will uphold you with His mightly right hand.
Depending on Him will keep life from destroying you.
The suffering is for a reason and a season.
He listens to our prayers. And answers them.
He is in control, and He is for us.
We choose to trust what we've spent time ingraining in our souls. This is what all that time in your Bible and your prayers is about. You've been building a strong foundation to uphold you in moments like these. God has given you eyes to see Heaven in times where others would only see Hell. Ask Him to hone your vision to joy. To tune your ears to the frequency of faith. He is smack dab in the middle of your whirlwind. I pray today you are able to receive His peace as you trust in Him.
Love you to pieces,