Fires...sorrow...

This morning I stayed in bed a tinch longer than usual and so was out of whack and so instead of heading to my kitchen table first thing...we headed out to do chores.  The heat has been pretty unbearable and so my shepherd is on the mend and ready to "gitter done" and so we did chores.   When I came back in, I read some of my devotions but didn't read My Utmost for His Highest...

I had thought of my friend Phyllis who turns the big 5-0 today!   So sent her a text...we texted back and forth but have her in my thoughts and prayers.  Her mom is in the hospital...and appreciate all putting up prayers for her...I had people at work...each dealing with their own challenges...those of life issues...their family...either health issues...life issues...I think of another police office killed in the line of duty...a single mother I have heard...my heart aches for the little one!

I thought of the fires that seem to be burning our state.   I feel for those that are being evacuated...losing property...losing so much precious beautiful vegetation that will take time to replace...and those that are on the line...risking life and limb as they say.  I think of the hot heat...multipied by the winds...equipment the firefighters wear and/or carry...and if you think too much on it...you almost feel consumed from the drought..

We think of the lack of rain...how the rains would help so many...and so over lunch I decide to peek in at My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers...I had felt the pain of so many and so when I read it...I was almost overwhelmed.

Receiving Yourself in the Fires of Sorrow

June 25, 2012

. . . what shall I say? ’Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. ’Father, glorify Your name’ —John 12:27-28

As a saint of God, my attitude toward sorrow and difficulty should not be to ask that they be prevented, but to ask that God protect me so that I may remain what He created me to be, in spite of all my fires of sorrow. Our Lord received Himself, accepting His position and realizing His purpose, in the midst of the fire of sorrow. He was saved not from the hour, but out of the hour.

We say that there ought to be no sorrow, but there is sorrow, and we have to accept and receive ourselves in its fires. If we try to evade sorrow, refusing to deal with it, we are foolish. Sorrow is one of the biggest facts in life, and there is no use in saying it should not be. Sin, sorrow, and suffering are, and it is not for us to say that God has made a mistake in allowing them.

Sorrow removes a great deal of a person’s shallowness, but it does not always make that person better. Suffering either gives me to myself or it destroys me. You cannot find or receive yourself through success, because you lose your head over pride. And you cannot receive yourself through the monotony of your daily life, because you give in to complaining. The only way to find yourself is in the fires of sorrow. Why it should be this way is immaterial. The fact is that it is true in the Scriptures and in human experience. You can always recognize who has been through the fires of sorrow and received himself, and you know that you can go to him in your moment of trouble and find that he has plenty of time for you. But if a person has not been through the fires of sorrow, he is apt to be contemptuous, having no respect or time for you, only turning you away. If you will receive yourself in the fires of sorrow, God will make you nourishment for other people."

I read this and it just seemed to speak to me...sorrow...I think of one of the guys that I work with...his grandmother has hospice and she is staying with his parents...he spoke so lovingly of this 98 year old woman but it spoke to me when he told a story of family that came to visit and I took it that it had been maybe a little while because the family lived away...but she knew their names.  She could not see their faces but she felt a face and spoke of one of them being a big man.  But then he spoke of how each morning she would be up at 4:00 and pray for the ENTIRE family...a large family...but he respectfully called her a warrior...and I thought of how this family was going through sorrow...of that bittersweet of watching someone that has always been a part of your life and knowing that they will not live forever...but you cherish time with them...and though you do not want to lose them...you know that they are ready to go be with their Lord.    But I wonder how much "nourishment for other people" she was...inspiration for many...she has many grandchildren and great grandchildren.

I think about the "fires of sorrow".   Of so many fighting their own personal droughts...of the heat and winds that seem to consume our being as well as our fields and pastures...I think of the 23rd Psalm...The shepherd and I went and checked on cows...there is a tree that sits by the water.   It is partially dead yet it still has life to it...sometimes I think many of us are too much like that tree...

I took all of the color out of this picture but it still has the outline...it is one that I may play with many times...but for tonight I leave it as this...and I pray for all of those fighting whatever "fires" they are fighting...God be with us!

I heard an old favorite by James Taylor...Fire and Rain...and it just seems to fit with what we pray for!  I continue to pray for rains...I wrote where I had heard a preacher who spoke of people getting tired of Noah saying it will rain...I do not claim to be Noah and I pray that we do not get that much...but I do believe we will get rain...I would hope sooner than later...but it will come in its time...

lyp