Oh, the promise a new week heralds. I know many will smirk when reading that proclamation, but I stand by it. Sundays jump start the sacred; Mondays the secular. As we don’t typically dread Sundays, neither should we dread Mondays. Rather we ought to approach this opportunity God gives us on the second day of a new week to either continue the good, or begin it with an attitude of thanksgiving for yet another chance. As varied and individual as that may look like for any of us, still a new week is to be celebrated.
I begin this one with thanksgiving for this day in particular as it marks the 72nd birthday of the sister who follows me in birth order; the sister whose life-long battle with sickle cell disease sets her a part. Despite the statistical data that says most who have the disease can expect a life expectancy of less than 50 years, our sister continues to defy the odds for longevity. No stranger to organ failures and a myriad of other life threatening crises, she has astounded us innumerable times with miraculous recoveries; often when doctors told us to prepare for the worst. Just two days ago, she was once again in ER with leg pains and inability to walk. And once again, she was discharged after the typical protocols required for those who struggle with the condition. And just in time to celebrate birthday # 72. She is our miracle in the midst of pandemic. I imagine there are others like her around the world who as the virus rages give proof that God is still Jehovah Rapha, The Lord Who Heals and Jehovah Jireh, the Lord Who Provides.
As we mourn with those who have lost loved ones to the coronavirus; pray for those infected, those on the front lines administering care while at risk themselves, and those seeking scientific answers that will provide drugs and vaccines to tilt the odds in our favor, we must remember that God is still in the healing and provision business. The shelves of His store never run out; limitless supplies of Help and Hope are available at all times. As evidence we have but to pause and consider the miracles that continue and the prayers that are answered to realize we have no reason to fear. “God did not create us to worry; He did not create us to fear,” the gospel artist Anthony Brown sings. Those words are an anchor during this time when a rough sea named COVID-19 threatens and tosses us into billowing waves of infection and worse.
I look at God’s grace and mercy extended these seventy-two years to this sister of mine, and know that as He has so cared and provided for her, He will do the same for others; no matter the nature of their trials. As I said to her on this birthday, I say to everyone: God’s love for us does not mean we will not experience the “trouble traps” life sets for us. What His love means is that during the times of those troubles, He will neither forsake nor abandon us. He will see us through until His will for our lives is accomplished. If we are here on this Monday morning, it means His will for us continues. That’s something for which to be thankful and to celebrate.
Love. Joy. Peace.
Big Sister, so Beautifully Spoken!!! Love this and how he surely as Shown much Favor. Grace, Mercy and Love for our Sister Christa, and his Promise to Us.
(He will neither forsake nor abandon us. He will see us through until His will for our lives is accomplished). Amen and Praise God