Today’s scripture: Psalm 85:10-13 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (Melody Merida):
Life is mysterious. There are periods in life when everything seems to be going my way and then there are periods where everything feels like a struggle.
For example, just a few weeks ago everything that could go wrong did go wrong. My family and I woke up to a leak in our basement. The plumbers found a major problem with the plumbing in our yard and had to dig it up to fix it. For two days the plumbers made repairs and all the while we could not use the water in our home (that was when I realized how much water a 3 year old uses).
While we had the huge hole in our side yard, my wife’s car broke down. We took it to the shop and ended up spending hundreds of dollars to have repairs made. Once her car came back, my car started acting up. So, we took it to the shop and had to spend another few hundred dollars to fix it.
Once my car was repaired and the plumbing was fixed, we thought things would settle down but that didn’t happen. Instead, the radon detector in our basement started making funny noises so we had to have that repaired. Then, as the final insult to injury, I found out that I had to have surgery to repair a problem that was the result of a previous surgery. All of this happened within a one week period. By the end of that week I was about ready to pull my hair out. But, as is often the case, life surprised me with a quick rebound.
A few weeks later, all in about a one week period, my wife’s job that she had been waiting for came through. We had our first snowfall of the season and I spent loads of fun time playing with my son in the snow. I reconnected with some old friends who had been gone from my life for many years. I was called upon to give three separate interviews for newspapers in Indiana regarding the HJR6 amendment. And finally, my medical insurance company informed me that they had made an error on a claim and were going to pay a bill I had previously been told I would have to pay. For those several days nothing could go wrong!
Isn’t that life? As Mary Chapin Carpenter said, “Some days you’re the windshield, some days you’re the bug.” It is the natural rhythm of life to ebb and flow. And that ebb and flow is depicted so poignantly in Psalm 85.
In the earlier verses of the psalm, the psalmist wonders when the difficult days will pass. Yet the final verses of the chapter, the verses for today, 10-13, show the psalmist envisioning what it will be like when the good times roll again. What I find intriguing about this is the psalmist writing with such confidence in the good times that you know they will come again. It is as if he is willing them into being. He understands the rhythm of life. He doesn’t stay stuck in the difficulty of today; he seems to have utter faith that tomorrow will be better–that “the Lord will give what is good”. And oh, what a day that will be!
Now how about you? Do you have faith that, even when everything seems to be going wrong, God’s goodness will prevail? Do you trust that the good times will roll again!
Thought for the day: Life will naturally ebb and flow; it is the nature of our world. Through it all may we be the kind of people who still say, “The Lord will give what is good.” Amen.
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.