To Endless Years the Same

Before the hills in order stood

or earth received its frame,

from everlasting Thou art God,

to endless years the same.

-Isaac Watts, 1719
from O God, Our Help in Ages Past

 Image~Pixabay 

So Much Like Me

Time passes slowly in a waiting room. They can be an incubator for anxiety. I was there this morning, and a little girl about four years old was also waiting to see the dermatologist. Apparently, this was her first visit, and she was visibly disturbed about it. Her mommy was telling her not to fret or be upset, that it was going to be okay. But the little girl was worried not knowing what the doctor would do. "You're stressing about nothing. You'll see. You'll be okay. I promise."

My heart went out to this precious little girl because I'm so much like her. I oftentimes stress because I've not passed this way before. I don't always know what's going to happen or how a spot will be diagnosed, and I need reassurance as well. God says He cares for me, to cast my anxiety on Him. Everything is going to be okay. Even if it doesn't feel like it at the moment. Even if it doesn't feel like it later.

I know that this little girl's next visit to the dermatologist will find her much less anxious because today's visit gave her reassurance for the next. Her countenance was very different as she came out of the office to go home. And so it is with faith and anxiety. I can recall God's faithfulness in caring for me in the past and know that whatever happens in the present is ultimately for my good and His glory. Even if it seems grievous at the moment, He will strengthen me in my spirit and I will be the better for it.

It'll be okay. He promises.

Casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

1 Peter 5:7 

Image ~ Young Mother Sewing

Mary Cassatt, 1844-1926

public domain via WikiArt

Even When I Can't See His Hand

We've been discussing in our Sunday School class how to read the Bible in its historical context and how we are to relate to it in our present setting. We were asked today about some of our favorite Old Testament narratives and why we are drawn to them.

One of mine is the book of Esther that I'm currently studying. It's a reminder that God works out his purposes and promises even when we might not see his hand or we think he is afar off. I'm still learning that even when I can't see his hand, to trust his heart.

Sharing a thought with you today from my reading as I continue my study.

Even though we cannot see God acting, it does not follow that he is not doing anything. God's work is not all slam-bang action; sometimes it is a quiet faithfulness to his promises in the seemingly ordinary providences of life, bringing about in the hearts of his people what he has purposed.

~ Iain Duguid, in Esther & Ruth Reformed Expository Commentary

Image ~ Reading

Ivan Kramskoy 1837-1887

public domain via Wikimedia Commons

But God...

Goose Girl, Seymour Joseph Guy 1824-1910

A young friend and I were talking yesterday about the joys and challenges of parenting. She's one of those I've mentioned who finds joy in telling the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord.  I've heard some mothers say that they don't like their children, and they'll be glad when they grow up and move out. That's a sad condition to be in, but I think most of us truly want what's best for our children. I know that there were times, though, when I fell into default mode of self, times when I didn't make good choices, or I simply didn't know what the better path was. But God does know the pathway. He laid it out.

"But God." That's the truth my friend and I rejoiced in as we talked about His faithfulness in our uncertainties or weakness, that in Him we aren't stuck with just what we ourselves know or can do. I came across that phrase again in my Bible reading today. But God, being rich in His mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us ... (Eph.2:4).

And who knows better how life is to be lived than the creator of life?! He is rich in mercy to redeem us from ourselves, from our mistakes, from our weaknesses. Why does He want to do that? Because of His great love with which He loved us. Awesome, isn't it?!

I know that I love my children and my grandchildren far beyond anything I could have ever imagined before they came along. If you're a mother or grandmother, you probably feel the same. Our love isn't perfect, though, but God's love is. So I prayed that God would give wisdom to train up my children in the [path]way they should go, and I now pray the same for my grandchildren. We don't see them often, but when they are with us, we want to be wise as we're entrusted with their care. I pray, too, that God would fill their parents with His wisdom as they live in a city that this day marks the 500th homicide in a little over 8 months. Much wisdom is needed.

For the Lord gives wisdom, out of His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those who walk in integrity. 

Proverbs 2:6-7

I do hope, dear one, that you are intimately acquainted with the giver of life. What a privilege and benefit to be able to seek His wisdom as we do this thing called parenting and grandparenting!

Then What?

The Letter, William K.  Blacklock 1872-1924

We know that the dread of what might happen is often worse than what actually does happen. But sometimes what we dread does come to our doorstep. Then what? Charles Spurgeon gives such good counsel that I want to share his words with you today. I hope it encourages you as it did me when I read it this morning, to look upon what arrives with a lively hope.

Psalm 112:7

He shall not be afraid of evil tidings.

Christian, you ought not to dread the arrival of evil tidings; because if you are distressed by them, what do you more than other men? Other men have not your God to fly to; they have never proved His faithfulness as you have done, and it is no wonder if they are bowed down with alarm and cowed with fear: but you profess to be of another spirit; you have been begotten again unto a lively hope, and your heart lives in heaven and not on earthly things; now, if you are seen to be distracted as other men, what is the value of that grace which you profess to have received? Where is the dignity of that new nature which you claim to possess? Again, if you should be filled with alarm, as others are, you would, doubtless, be led into the sins so common to others under trying circumstances. The ungodly, when they are overtaken by evil tidings, rebel against God; they murmur, and think that God deals hardly with them. Will you fall into that same sin? Will you provoke the Lord as they do? Moreover, unconverted men often run to wrong means in order to escape from difficulties, and you will be sure to do the same if your mind yields to the present pressure. Trust in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him. Your wisest course is to do as Moses did at the Red Sea, "Stand still and see the salvation of God." For if you give way to fear when you hear of evil tidings, you will be unable to meet the trouble with that calm composure which nerves for duty, and sustains under adversity. How can you glorify God if you play the coward? Saints have often sung God's high praises in the fires, but will your doubting and desponding, as if you had none to help you, magnify the Most High? Then take courage, and relying in sure confidence upon the faithfulness of your covenant God, "let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

~ from C.H. Spurgeon's Morning and Evening Devotionals

You can read more of Spurgeon's Devotionals here
 

Crossing Paths Again

I was talking with a friend recently about our upcoming move, and she commented that I probably would miss running into friends while out and about shopping and such. Yes, that I will miss. A friend that I hadn't seen for several years came into the restaurant where we were eating on Sunday. It was so good to catch up with how things are going with her and then hug goodbye. Then we ran into one of My Beloved's friends yesterday, and they talked for awhile.

Today a friend that I haven't seen for many, many years crossed my path at the grocery store. I was ever so glad that I didn't go shopping yesterday as is my usual routine. I would have missed a wonderful, timely blessing. 

She has been taking care of her 95-year-old mother who has had Alzheimer's for eleven years, staying at her mother's home and keeping it up for her since it was familiar to her, tending to her flowers, planting some zucchini, keeping things as best she can as her mother knew them. My friend has had shoulder replacements and has difficulty moving one arm, so her son helps with getting his grandmother in and out of bed and tending to some basic needs, while his little 3-year-old plays and brings joy to Great-Grandma, sitting on her lap and talking to her. Before caring for her mother, my friend had taken care of her father for three years before he passed on. Before that she and her husband had brought someone into their own home that they had met while camping and was caregiver to her, and before that they had brought a friend of their son's into their home and had taken care of him for three years. Sad to say, though, her adult daughter's life is a mess. She has a lot that could depress her.

But in the midst of it all, my long-time friend is a joy-filled woman. She says that some people tell her that she should put her mother in a care home. "What?!" she says, "And miss all of the love and joy I've had over these years with her? Memories I will cherish forever?!" We had a wonderful conversation about God's abundant grace and how His mercies are new every morning. Grace and mercy that she may never have known except for the difficulties and challenges of life. His grace is truly sufficient. And His love abounds.

Father God knew that my friend and I needed that conversation today. He planned it that way...for both of us, for our paths to cross once again. For her, because she doesn't get out much to talk to people. For me, because I was discouraged after listening to My Beloved's friend yesterday talk about all he is doing--writing books, speaking several times a week in different locations, visiting in nursing homes, overseeing a chaplains' group, and how so many people are so glad that he's doing what he's doing. And on and on. I came away from that conversation feeling like I wasn't doing much of anything that really mattered. Does anyone even read my little blog posts?

Then I look up today across the rows of produce, and there's my friend from long ago. And God uses that encounter to remind me that there are a gazillion ways to do good and to bring Him glory. And that what I do does matter....to Him and to others.

Long-time friends pick up where they left off. So we hugged goodbye and said that we were so glad we ran into each other today, that both of us needed that conversation, and that if we don't see one another again here, we'll look for each other up there. And please give your mama a hug for me.

So, dear one, keep looking upward and homeward, where blessings abound and God's mercies are new every morning. And remember that what you are doing today matters. A lot.

Painting ~ The Day's Catch, Daniel Ridgway Knight 1839-1924
Wiki Commons public domain

Trusting His Purpose

"I must learn that the purpose of my life belongs to God, not me. God is using me from His great personal perspective, and all that He asks of me is that I trust Him."

~ Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

Painting ~ A Side Glance 1892, Edward Frederick Brewtnall
Wikigallery public domain

Attic Memories

Attic Memories, Norman Rockwell

We've been pulling things from the attic the past couple of days, going through almost 40 years of memories in this house. If you've done it, you know that cleaning out the attic is not as easy as just clearing things out. There's a lot of lingering along the way, remembering when they wore those clothes, played with those toys, slept in that bed. The attic tells a story of our life here in this house.

We made a run to the mission store this afternoon to pass along some of the stuff those memories are made of. Not everything, of course. Some things just can't be parted with, and others can be passed to the next generation..."things Mommy played with when she was your age." And so we watch and see a small glimmer of our little girls again.

I saw this quote recently — 

Things end, but memories last forever.

Some things do, but I'm not so sure that things must always end, but rather can change gradually, day by day, so there is always a new day dawning. Abrupt endings are, indeed, difficult and leave us with only the memories. But this I do know — God's mercies are new every morning. Mercies in and for the memories, be they good or not so good.

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;

His mercies never come to an end;  

They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.

Lamentations 3:22-25