Blogging has been light, obviously. In the last 48 hours, we’ve endured a very sad and messy end to a 20 year friendship; suffered yet another another setback with that family member who’s been ill and has been in the hospital three times in the last two months; delivered bad news to one person and received bad news (of a terminal illness) from another family member; had a financial windfall and a setback that exceeded it by $200.00.
And yet… we still cling to the fact that God is sovereign, He is good, He loves us and that this is going to be okay. Better than okay; that God will be glorified by it all; that we will eventually be thankful for these events. And for right now, we have peace and comfort and the strength to get through the ordinary events of daily life, like the class I taught yesterday, fulfilling requests by clients, cooking, cleaning, and finding things – so many things! – for which we’re grateful. If we’re fools, we’re content to be so.
You have the right attitude, Laura … and you have people praying for you through all of this. I know it can seem that nothing more can go wrong and it can get so overwhelming, but God will see you through all of this. But, you already know that.
Back in August I advised people to get some perspective about the election and tone down the rhetoric. Hyper-partisan that I am, I can still identify limits. I just didn’t expect, a few months later, to be exploring those limits.
I’ve been cultivating an earworm: Blessed Be Your Name.
VERSE 1
Blessed be Your Name in the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow, blessed be your Name
Blessed be Your Name when I’m found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness, blessed be your Name
PRE-CHORUS
Every blessing You pour out I’ll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in Lord, still I will say
CHORUS
Blessed be the Name of the Lord
Blessed be Your Name
Blessed be the Name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious Name
VERSE 2
Blessed be Your Name when the sun’s shining down on me
When the world’s all that it should be, blessed be your Name
Blessed be Your Name on the road marked with suffering
Though there’s pain in the offering, blessed be Your Name
PRE-CHORUS
Every blessing You pour out I’ll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in Lord, still I will say
CHORUS
Blessed be the Name of the Lord
Blessed be Your Name
Blessed be the Name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious Name
BRIDGE
You give and take away, You give and take away
My heart will choose to say, blessed be Your Name
I love hearing that song; it really has the right perspective on life and so do you! God will surely be glorified through you and yours as He performs His perfect work. Grace to you!
Of all these thing I think I find the messy end to a 20 year friendship the saddest. Money comes and goes and death and illness seem to be a part of life that at times helps us grow stronger but to lose old friends. ….. Often that creates a deep sadness that remains. I think it’s because in many ways a friendship ending shows that there was no happy mutual resolution to a situation. The golden retriever in me wants everyone to be happy.
I have been hanging on to that song for months now. As finances get worse and relationships – both new and old, family and friends – become strained, I cling to the lyrics like a drowning man to a life preserver. There’s something about reminding myself that no matter what happens – good or bad – He is still on the throne and is worthy of glory that makes it all easier to endure. Sometimes I just need a reality check where I recognize that He never promised it would be easy, but He did promise to never leave or forsake me.
That is one of my favorite worship songs!