Today is day two here at Liberty. This morning I rose early, refreshed
and full of confidence ready to meet the day. My devotional reflection
was on Psalm 30 which I shall share in a moment. It seemed that I
had every expectation that the day should go well, or at least better
than it did yesterday (although not bad, it was a bit stressful).
Little did I know that Satan was there to trip me up at just about
every corner. The first thing that happened was Dr. Towns plunged us
headlong into a quiz (did I remember this material- I think I did- wait
when did we talk about that?, etc!) Then I kept getting repeated on
line email warnings from the university-something
about not getting my financial check-in properly- an administrative
error, to be sure. Why am I just hearing about it now? A little later
I read a news report on-line from my home newspaper about a very
disturbing incident. I was invited out to lunch by some new friends,
which was very nice- its always nice to meet new friends, and so I
proceeded to make the very best impression on them I could- by having to
excuse myself
from the table because of a sudden and unexplained attack of nausea!
Barely making it to the restroom on time, I tried to refresh myself for
the ride back to campus. On the ride back, the California driver
I rode with whizzed around turns and made many erratic movements. I
have to admit that while I admired my new friend's fancy sports Mercedes
Roadster with leather and valour seats, I was green- but not with envy!
My friends driving skills caused the the attack I thought had once
vanquished me to return with a vengeance! I will spare you the other
details.
When we returned after lunch, another quiz greeted us. In the meantime
my computer started getting queezy as well, and kept shutting off. It
became interminably slow and difficult to deal with. In the meantime I
had lost an entire morning of valuable notetaking. Later on in the day,
after I had returned to my room, there was another call from the finance
office. I am so glad I prayed that the Lord would give me stength today.
I do not know what I would have done had I not done so.
Going back to Psalm 30, my Bible has a heading above it entitled
"The Blessedness of Answered Prayer".
I will extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up, and have not let
my foes rejoice over me. O Lord my God, I cried out to You, and You
healed me. O LORD, You brought my soul up from the grave: You have
kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. Sing praise to the
LORD, you saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His
holy Name. For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life;
Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." (Psalm 30:
1-5)
Praise the Lord for that last line especially. The psalmist says in
verse 3 that the LORD brought my soul up from the grave and has kept me
alive, that I should not go down to the pit. I can be thankful for that,
also. There have been times that I felt like I had a foot in the grave.
God kept me alive today (even though I did not feel like it at times),
and he kept me from the pit (though at times I felt like I was holding
on by my fingernails!). In any event, I have much to thank God for. I
am grateful for the opportunity to study and to be here on campus to learn
many wonderful things. I am grateful for a church that has provided this
opportunity for me. Even though I may not be in the best of health right
now, my family is healthy and we all were safe. We all got to live
another day. And as far as my computer is concerned, well- right now it
is getting a good virus check and going to bed for the night after signing
off. The old trusty laptop has served me well for 5 years- (that's age
75 in human years-well past its prime, I suppose. Its bound to have a few
creaks now and then.
If God took me home tonight (which right now, the way my stomach feels,
I'm not sure I would care either way!), I would go home to Him having
lived a full and happy, joyful life He has given me these 47 years. Of
course, there is much I would like to do. But one thing I do know, I
will not go to the pit, even though there are times I joke of felt like
having been there. I must shamefully say that there are probably millions
who would want to trade their life circumstances for mine-even on my
worst day- so there is absolutely nothing I should be complaining about.
God is there for you today, as well. He loves You and has all of the
expectation for You. If You have trusted in His Son, Jesus, there is
in this life everything to look forward to no matter what you might be
facing right now. If someone were to offer to trade his life for yours,
would you take it? Actually one already did, His name is Jesus.
Have a blessed day!
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