Last night I got a text from my old friend, the one I have known about 53 years. It grieved my heart to read it. She and her husband were heading to a place in New Mexico for Thanksgiving. Or was it Mexico. I don't remember. Anyway... they were to leave yesterday morning and had plans to have the best of the best this time. Only they didn't make it. They made it to the airport, got boarded. Her hubby sat down in his seat on the airplane..... and died. Just like that. He closed his eyes and was gone. He was given a clean bill of health in September. And somewhere in his 70's, he is gone. He was very active in that the worked out by swimming every morning; he was constantly working on their home, painting and fixing things. He wasn't lazy and sitting and watching TV or playing games on the computer. He stayed active. I cannot imagine the pain she must be feeling. I think they have been married 30 years. And happily married at that.
Things like that happening suddenly does cause one to step back and evaluate life, doesn't it? One minute he is ready for a week's vacation in a fun place with the love of his life.... and ... his very breath is taken from him. On the plane. At the airport. Ready to enjoy being pampered and enjoying life.
Does that give you pause to think 'what if' something similar happened to you? Or to someone you love? I have no idea how I will react if hubby goes before I do. Granted, you know parts of our relationship, but you don't know it all. So if God chooses to take him first, what will I do? How will I react? I don't have that answer. I think we all react differently; but I feel I will be .... I can't even think of the word to use. In my friend's situation, she is in shock. They had always taken care of themselves with exercise and eating right. We do neither of those things.
And, what is really weird, is that I had a dream last night about my first husband. I'm still not sure what that was about.... but it was a good dream.... and that is all I will say about it. Some things don't need to be shared.
Today is Sunday and we'll be needing to get ready for church soon. I heard we are having a guest speaker today. I am pretty sure this is one we had watched on the computer before we started attending. He's disabled and in a wheelchair. But his message was powerful last night. I'm curious, and interested, in what he will have to say today. I understand he and his wife are partners in a ministry called 'Yielded Life'. I haven't looked it up yet but will at some point, just out of curiosity. A close friend who attends our church said the last time he spoke it was anointed and powerful - you just don't get that through the computer screen, the emotion. I'm hoping to feel and hear that today.
Psalm 95:1-2 (NKJV): "Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms."
Regardless of what we are feeling; even if it is a loss of someone we love, we always feel better when we praise the Lord. Seriously. In my darkest moments, when I cannot breathe any longer without the pain, I want to praise the Lord and thank Him for His faithfulness and goodness to me. You say you don't know how to pray?
Pick up your Bible and turn to the psalms. Many of those are prayers that King David wrote. Many times he is crying out to the Lord for help. Many times David is just praising the Lord for His goodness and faithfulness when all hope was gone. Psalm 51 was written after the prophet Nathan confronted King David with taking Bathsheba and getting her pregnant, then having her husband killed, then taking her as his wife. King David was overwhelmed with his sin. He had been hiding his sin... but he knew the Holy Spirit had left his life because of his great sin. So what did he do? He confessed his sin and sought the Lord's forgiveness. And because of a pure heart, God forgave him.
Psalm 51:1-2 (NKJV): "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin."
Many times I have worked my way through Psalm 51 as I want to be 'clean' before my Lord. I sit and wait and ask for things to be brought to mind that I need to confess and let go of. If you would do that, you will find many things you thought nothing of, or things you had forgotten, will be brought back to your mind. You want to come before the Lord with a clean and pure heart.
Psalm 51:17 (NKJV): "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and and contrite heart - these, O God, You will not despise."
Sometimes God will lay something on our heart and we find our thoughts are constantly on this... sometimes it because He wants us to process it, confess it, and give it back to Him. And then He sets us free. Being free - there is nothing like it.
I choose freedom... what do you choose? Do you choose to stay in bondage? There is freedom in Jesus. Choose Jesus.
Blessings!
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