the whisper

“Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.”1

you gasp when you read it—how can a verse so accurately capture your mood?

the dam bursts and out flows sobs of despair and a steady stream of tears.

you are never more alone than at that moment, not after what’s just happened.

the verse is quickly memorized in order to call upon again and again and again.

aware of the day’s responsibilities you steady your legs and rise to your feet,

and decide to get some fresh air in hopes you will be able to face the day.

but the moment the cold wind hits your face the tears flow all over again,

and your anger bubbles over like a volcano with creator god as the target.

you choke on the verse, “i love you, oh lord my strength,”2  

for your heart won’t allow the words to be uttered, at least sincerely.

screams of “now what?!” and “how do you expect me to go on?!” roll off the tongue,

giving little or no thought to who—other than the Lord—may be in ear shot.

and then it happens, just as your rage reaches its climax,  

someone whispers in your ear, “my grace is sufficient for you.”3.

the tears and anger quickly subside because you know the source of the message,

for there is no one else around and the words did not come from your own spirit.

how long you will enjoy the grace of god no one really knows,

for you are hurting, vulnerable and human to the core.

so more pain and tears are likely to come during moments of weakness,

but for now, for now, his grace is, indeed, sufficient for you.

1  Psalm 25:16

2  Psalm 18:1

3  2 Corinthians 12:9

Editor’s note:

For all those who have a broken heart. For all those who have nothing to look forward to. For all those who are burdened and unable to go on.

Know that you are in my thoughts and prayers, my friend. Also know that not all is lost. It never is when the Lord’s involved.

“My grace is sufficient for you.”

have you said the words today?

So, how’s your day going? Good, bad or in between? Busy or kind of laid back?

However it’s going, I have a question for you: Have you thought about your heavenly Father today?

In case you’ve forgotten, He loves you. Very much.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”1

God sent His Son, Jesus, to planet earth to die on a cross for your sins. He loves you.

But that’s not all: He’s also faithfully watching over you, protecting you and providing for you. As in right now.

"Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."2  

The point of today’s blog entry is short and sweet, and oh how sweet it is: God loves you. Want to hear it again? God loves you.

What’s that? You want to hear it again? Okay. Last time. God loves you!

But we’re not finished.

When people love each other, it’s appropriate for them to express their feelings to one another. God’s done His part, but have you? Translated, have you told the Lord that you love Him today?

We’re not talking about Sunday at church or last week when you were in a real pinch, but today, for no reason except, well, you love Him and want to let Him know.

Need some help? Okay, how about taking the phrase below that comes from one of the Psalms and making it your own?

Go ahead, try it.

“I love you, oh Lord, my strength.”3

Hey, I’m wise to what you just did. You read it and that’s fine, and maybe you even made it your own, which was the point. But can I make a suggestion? How about saying it out loud?  The Lord hears whether it’s a silent prayer or an audible prayer, but I find that saying things out loud makes them more real and meaningful for the one who’s praying.

So what do you say, want to give it another try? Okay, here we go again, with meaning and out loud:

“I love you, oh Lord, my strength.”

Did you do it? If so, know this: Your heavenly Father is grinning from ear-to-ear. Just because His child—you—loves Him back.

God loves you. You love God.

How cool is that?

1  John 3:16

2  Hebrew 13:5

3  Psalm 18:1

rescued

I felt like an idiot standing on the chair, but that was the only way I could avoid the drunken brawl all around me. Meanwhile, the guys just kept on wrestling.

The boss’ instructions to the new guy—me—were clear: If you see a fight, don’t get involved. Just call for help on your Walkie Talkie.

Well, I guess the excitement of working my first professional wrestling match was too much. When I saw the man and woman trading punches my instinct told me to intervene, so I did.

After seeing the combatants up close, I quickly regretted my decision to disobey. The man was huge, so as we stood (my) nose to (his) chest, I pleaded for mercy and appealed to logic. I acknowledged that he could kick my rear end, but also mentioned that the police were on the way. Thus, wouldn’t it be a good idea not to hurt me?

Despite being drunk, he decided to cool it. Praise God! Unfortunately, the woman was equally drunk and going absolutely nuts. Since mountain man had decided to cease hostilities she picked a fight with others around her. Thus, what began as a twosome was now a crowdsome.  

That’s when I decided to get up on the chair. It just seemed safer up there. Besides, I got a better view of the two comic book characters still doing battle in the ring.

Fortunately, the police arrived pretty quickly and broke it all up. They decided to only cuff and arrest the original combatants, mountain man and wild woman.

As we walked together towards the elevator, mountain man was calm and submissive, but wild woman was, well, wild. She was busy kicking and cursing both officers the entire way. Once the doors closed, however, she stopped resisting. That’s because the police convinced her in a very physical way that she should calm down. She did.

As I reflect on that bizarre memory from my former life in the business world, I’m so grateful I wasn’t hurt. I mean, mountain man was one big dude. He could have mopped the floor with me. And, truth be told, wild woman probably could have whipped me as well.

What saved me that day? I count my blessings: Mountain man showed me mercy, wild woman decided to lash out at others versus me, and standing on the chair helped me avoid being crushed and pummeled by the drunken crowd. Oh, and let’s not forget the police. Praise God for the police.

Thinking back to that day, I’d do things differently. First of all, I would not have intervened. Not only would I obey my boss’s instructions, I’d also get to watch the whole wrestling match. As it is, I missed most of it. Oh, the regrets.  

Seriously, what would I do now?

Well, first of all, as a follower of Jesus now I have a totally different perspective. If I’m in immediate danger of course I’ll protect myself in any way I can. But if there’s time to think and plan my defense the first thing I’m going to do is get on the Walkie Talkie and call the God of the universe.

“I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.”1

There’s a time and a place for physically defending oneself, and there’s a time and a place for the help of a police officer. But the ultimate resource is God Almighty. Is there anybody else you’d rather have on your side? Me neither.

So the next time you find yourself in a pinch, I encourage you to make Him your go-to guy. Sure, you might have to stand on a chair or call for the police, but why not call on your heavenly Father as soon as you sense danger?

“The LORD is (your) rock, (your) fortress and (your) deliverer; …God is (your) rock, in whom (you) take refuge. He is (your) shield and the horn of (your) salvation, (your) stronghold.”

1  Psalm 18:1-3