August 22

Happy Thursday to you! Yesterday, I watched my youngest grandson and did we have some fun! Within 5 minutes after his parents had left, he’d managed to get himself completely soaked in the dog’s water dish—in the laundry room! I don’t know how the little rascal slipped by me so quickly, but alas, I’m not as quick as I once was. The worst part of keeping him was putting him to bed and waiting for him to go to sleep. Listening to him cry is torture. Waiting for the sound of sleep. 


We wait quite a lot in life, don’t we? The red lights, in lines at the store, for a text message, for a table at the restaurant, for dad to get home, for a phone call, for Christmas. Sometimes our waiting is pretty serious. We wait to be freed from the ties of anxiety and depression. We wait and pray for the pregnancy test to come back positive. We wait for cancer to be eradicated and for a clean bill of health. We wait for the devastating grief of losing a loved one to turn into healing and peace. Night can come upon our souls in a multitude of ways, and we begin to wonder if our morning will ever return. 


But here in this the 130th Psalm of the Ascent we read, 

“I am counting on the Lord; yes, I am counting on him. I have put my hope in his word. I long for the Lord more than sentries long for the dawn, yes, more than sentries long for the dawn. O Israel, hope in the Lord; for with the Lord there is unfailing love. His redemption overflows.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭130:5-7‬ ‭NLT‬‬


Wait for the Lord even more than the watchman waits for the morning. Let the deepest cry of our hearts be not simply for change in our present circumstances, but for the God who formed both the night and day to meet with us right where we sit and bring the light to our darkness. 


Jesus is Emmanuel -- God with us. His presence is in the office of the CEO and in the janitor’s closet and in the baby’s nursery. We are met by God’s abiding company each time we seek Him in prayer, no matter who we are, what we have done, and what we are facing today. His matchless love finds us at all hours, no matter how dark it may be outside. The light of the world can turn any place of waiting into a place of worship. 


Micah 7:8 says, “Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.” (NLT)


Lord, thank you for your unfailing love when the times of life are hard and we are forced to wait. Thank you for the hope that we can be sure of, a hope that we can know is steadfast and sure. You are our God and we are your people. Sometimes when the world hits us hard we are in the depths of despair, help us Lord to remember to call on you. Teach us to always know that your grace is sufficient to cover all our sin and transgressions for who could ever survive if the list was kept and they were not forgiven? How beautiful is that grace so freely given! We worship and praise you for your greatness and for what you are to us. Hallelujah to the Lamb. Amen and amen. 


Love you dear friend,

Pam

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