Corona Devo 107
Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. ~Psalm 16:5-6
Maybe it is the new freedom of being able to run to the store, connect with a friend (in person!) or just the relief of less fear in my mind/heart of the what-if of Corona, but emotionally, spiritually and physically: I am in a more pleasant place lately.
Maybe it was a couple lean years filled with too many deaths and stifling sorrow that I have felt melt away: but i am laughing with (true) joy sometimes. And even as it happens (praise the Lord!), i catch myself because it almost feels foreign.
The valleys of life come, and for some of us, we walk a long time in them. It is lonely, but we can cling to the Lord and His word, and He holds us tight. He is our portion of sanity and hope to get through the heavy veil of life at times. And then the winds of change blow and He is still our portion of sanity and hope, but our experience of what is sane and hopeful changes from one life season to another. It is like a curtain is pulled back, and once more we begin to feel the warmth of sunlight on our faces.
I am so grateful for God's love and blessing. We must have perspective in experiencing it--there is depth in his love and blessing when the days are hard and our hearts are too. And there is depth in His love and blessing when our hearts are soft enough to be grateful and we are overwhelmed by His generosity to us. Whether in tears of sadness or tears of joy, He makes our lot secure. He is the Good Shepherd that guards us--and that definition changes day to day depending on our situation.
I pray that as we look back over the last few months, over the last few years, and over our lives: we can see the collective mosaic that God has pieced together in our lives. The people that have met us when we needed a friend. The situations that "worked out" even though they shouldn't have. The challenges that almost broke us, but instead refined us and made us stronger. We are not the ones that draw the boundary lines in our lives, regardless of how hard and long we try. We can't control everything, we cannot plan everything, we cannot teach everything or learn everything. God is before us and behind us, and usually much to our confusion and sometimes to our dismay, he sets our boundary lines--not us.
But today I encourage us to rest on our haunches and lean back and take in the big picture of all that God has done for us. First and foremost in His sacrifice on the cross for our salvation. But beyond that, how god has tailor-made blessings to suit us perfectly throughout our lives. Even the hardships have blessings attached to them if we see things through a faithful lens. He has always been at work in us and He is at work today, and He loves us.
Perhaps because Corona cut us off, and there has been joy in the re-entry to life--I took a moment to consider and appreciate the entire process. The boundary lines of Corona (and what they revealed and developed within us) have fallen for me in pleasant places.
It's not that I didn't have challenges and fall short (daily) in being a patient and kind mom and wife. I did. But there is always a bigger picture than us (thank God!) It is God. And He keeps forgiving us and inviting us to join Him and to be more like Him and less like ourselves. He is our Heavenly Father, and I want to take after my Father in Heaven. I want to inherit His characteristics of being "slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness" (Exodus 34:6). Any traits that I can inherit from Him are delightful.
And so, if today you feel buried under the rubble of hardships, or if you have stepped out of the rubble and are building a new structure with those remnants: be reminded that the Lord is with us on both sides. He brings good out of difficulties and He also delights in blessing us. We are heirs of King Jesus and surely we have a delightful inheritance.
Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. ~Psalm 16:5-6
Blessings,
sarah
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