Slow down, breathe, things are not always what they seem.
Both John and I tend to be "red alert" types. If the sky is falling; it's really falling. If it's raining, it's raining buckets. It's our composition and earthly nature. You may imagine that with two of these types in the same house, things can get pretty exciting from time to time. ☺
We were just discussing this the other day while reading our morning devotions. With two extended families, there are many opportunities to get riled up in our spirits. On my side, I have a well-loved auntie who's going through troubled waters with her health and the doctors don't seem to have it pinned down...diabetes-no; infection-no; stroke-no; heart trouble-no. And my cousin's nineteen-year-old daughter has been very ill and in ICU for some birth anomaly that no one ever knew about until she was very sick and in a lot of pain... Praise be to God that situation is on the mend. On John's side, he has an elderly aunt whose health is concerning, grands and great-grands who stand in need and on and on it goes. I'm sure that it's the same in your world. Perhaps it's your beloved's health or even your own.
Slow down, breathe, things are not always what they seem. Stolen Thoughts perfectly shares this concept. I have a "Stolen Thoughts" kind of story myself.
One of the first summers I was here at A Haven, when it was a mere shadow of its current self, my son and daughter were still teens living at home. Things went wrong all the time and it was up to me to tend to them. I had never owned a home all on my own before and there were many times when I was overwhelmed with my home-ownership responsibilities.
One of those times was after a particularly wet spring when the sump pump was partially filled with water, but not enough to trip the switch allowing it to empty. Back then, I didn't dare to touch the switch. My son came up from the basement one day declaring that there was an awful smell and that a mouse was belly up in the sump pump. Acckkkkk!
In typical "red alert" fashion, I quaked and groaned at the thought. I did go to the cellar and peered from the stairs toward the sump pump where I saw that little gray body floating. The smell was not pleasant and so I declared that I would deal with it another day.
A week went by with the smell reaching the rafters and the body grew bigger and bigger until I was certain that it was actually a rat floating there. My son was unwilling to deal with it. Yes, I'm ashamed to say that I did try to get him to do it. My daughter was unwilling. She's usually the brave one. That left me.
I finally took matters in hand and purchased an old strainer at the flea market. I girded my loins so to speak and descended into the bowels of hell. I marched up to the sump pump and leaned down holding my nose with my left hand and reaching for the revolting mass with my right. I nabbed it and dumped everything into a waiting trash bag.
Wait a minute, wait a minute, what was that thing? I peered more closely. I could hardly believe it. The rotting rodent carcass was actually a toy porpoise pencil topper. A toy porpoise pencil topper? A toy porpoise pencil topper had caused me all that anguish?
I kept it for many years on the porch where it reminded me constantly. My porch was turned into the addition and so the porpoise has been lost. I do know this, he's not in the sump pump this time.
Psalm 13:1–6
The first verses reflect how we "red alert types" feel when faced with trials and tribulations. It has no basis in truth for God's back is never toward us. We need to know this in our spirits and believe it in our hearts. The final verses are ones of joy when we finally recognize that God is for us and always has been.
Don't forget to breathe now...
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