I stood at our dining table not that long ago this evening, droopy of eye and droopy of spirit.
Scanning the table for something different, I saw it: a little, dark blue, hardcover book. Daily Strength for Daily Needs, declares the gold print on the spine.
I opened it randomly. Oh, hey! A day-by-day devotional book. And what, pray tell, might I find for today?
Arranging myself on a chair, anticipating something helpful, I read the short selection:
I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which Thou hast showed unto Thy servant. -Genesis 32:10
Some murmur if their sky is clear,
And wholly bright to view,
If one small speck of dark appear
In their great heaven of blue:
And some with thankful love are filled,
If but one streak of light,
One ray of God’s good mercy, gild
The darkness of their night.
-R. C. TrenchHabitual sufferers are precisely those who least frequently doubt the Divine benevolence, and whose faith and love rise to the serenest cheerfulness. Possessed by no idea of a prescriptive right to be happy, their blessings are not benumbed by anticipation, but come to them fresh and brilliant as the first day’s morning and evening light to the dwellers in Paradise. With the happy it is their constant peace that seems to come by nature, and to be blunted by its commonness,–and their griefs to come from God, sharpened by their sacred origin; with the sufferer, it is his pain that appears to be a thing of course, and to require no explanation, while his relief is reverently welcomed as a divine interposition, and, as a breath of Heaven, caresses the heart into melodies of praise. -J. Martineau
“I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies” — I agree. I need to work on thanksgiving and gratefulness for every “tidbit” I get from the hand of the Father.
So I’m thankful to God for arranging my encounter with Daily Strength For Daily Needs
None of what I read changes my situation. But it does renew — even if only briefly — a right perspective.
Maybe it can do the same for you…