Here is what I emailed a couple of close friends last night:
Or peace?
Or rest?
Things continue to pile on. I must be a difficult learner or a tough nut to crack or something.
We have a Refuge, I know.
Now this morning I read this:
“We glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience” (Romans 5:3).
May God give me His perspective on tribulation because I’m certainly not to the place (yet?) where I glory in them.
This has been a week of adversity. Actually, that’s nothing new any more. Because of it, I’ve frequently felt grumpy and/or discouraged. Yet, scattered among those times and feelings, there have also been (fleeting?) times of normality and even “upbeatness.”
I awoke early this morning, fretting and stewing (and even praying) about last night’s dose of adversity.
So these verses from Proverbs 24 “clicked” a few minutes ago….
“If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small” (10).
“A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength” (5).
“For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again…” (16).
“Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when stumbleth” (17).
“Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me: I will render to the man according to his work” (29).
May I be strong in His grace. Strong enough to be anti-grumpy and anti-discouraged. Strong enough to return blessing when anti-blessing seems more fitting. Strong enough to see the hand and heart of God in all things. Strong enough to rise again. Strong enough to grieve and pray for anyone who stumbles. Strong enough to choose right responses…even when I really don’t want to.
Not there yet. Not quite.