I posted on Facebook this morning about my devotion, but since then, it has turned into a story of its own, and since I don’t want to forget it, it’s time for a long overdue blog post.
This week has been challenging to say the least. My emotions and stress levels have been pushed to the max and I’ve really been struggling. I’ve been sitting in the middle of a pretty good sized pity party and “failure” seemed to be my word of the day. Then I heard from God and got a reminder of how He uses these very situations to grow and mature me. They were words I needed to hear at just the right time. However, it’s how I finally got the words that simply amuse and amaze me.
It was time to change the sheets in the master bedroom and I was about halfway done when I just decided in my lovely mood that I needed to take a break, and sat down in the chair in our bedroom. So, to justify my sitting down, I grabbed the devotional book next to the chair. Reading a devotion is a great excuse to sit down, right? This one has 31 entries, one for each day of the month. So, I figured out the date and opened to that day’s text. One of the first things I read from 31 Days of Praise by Ruth Myers –
“So I thank You for each disturbing or humbling situation in my life, for each breaking or cleansing process You are allowing”
My attention was suddenly riveted onto the page. This was about me, right now, just how I was feeling, very broken. As I posted on Facebook, the following jumped out at me.
“Thank You that each difficulty is an opportunity to see You work…and that my momentary troubles are producing for me an eternal glory that far outweighs them all, as I keep my eyes focused on You.”
I so needed to be reminded of where to place my focus, not on my poor pitiful self, but on the One who has it in His control. I felt better than I had in days.
Now for the punch line, a couple of hours later I was at my computer and noticed the date. It was not the date I had decided was today when I selected the devotion to read. I was off by a day. Oops! So not in spite of my bad mood and inability to determine a date, but because of them, God delivered words to me I needed to hear. I got a much needed chuckle at my own shortcomings and God’s graciousness to use them. Shortly afterwards, the outside rainy skies cleared, and the sun came out. It was like I could actually feel God’s warm presence around me. I think it’s going to be a good day after all.
