by Barbara Chadwick
Adversity, trials, sickness, pain and death are all parts of
life. We can face them only with the help of our “Rock, our Salvation.”
“When I had shingles the music stopped.” (from a commercial about a singer who got
shingles.)
My sister, Mary, in a
similar situation said of God, You are my hiding place…and you will
surround me with songs of deliverance. Psalm 32:7
A friend, Shirley rode the 1 ½ hours to our women’s retreat
with a group of women from our church. When she arrived I said, “I’m so glad
you could come.” She smiled and told me about the ride down the mountain with
her sisters in Christ and said, “It felt so wonderful to laugh again.” Her
husband had died 6 months before. They had been married over 50 years and she
had felt bereft since his death.
O Lord, my God, I called to You for help and You healed me… weeping may
remain for a night but rejoicing comes in the morning. Psalm 30:2, 5
All of us have our litany of stories from friends and family
who’ve faced adversity, trials, sickness and deaths of loved ones. Many have
prevailed, stood on the rock that is Christ and given honor to Him through it
all.
Writer Madeleine L’Engle said, “It’s a good thing to have
all the props pulled out from under us occasionally. It gives us some sense of
what is rock under our feet and what is sand.”
Who is the rock except our God. It is God who arms me with strength and
makes my way perfect. …I will sing praises to Your name. …You broaden my path
beneath me so that my ankles do not turn. 2 Samuel
22:32-33, 37, 50
When we were building our house on the side of a hill in the
Colorado mountains, we were informed that
the foundation would be secured to a huge rock. The wind often blows furiously
here, shaking the house. I am always
grateful for that secure foundation. On the days when I feel overcome with adversity, pain or trials I am eternally grateful for my God, my Rock.
The Psalmist, David wrote: Hear my cry, O God, listen to my
prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to You, I call as my heart grows
faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. Psalms 61:1 Then in chapter 63:7-8 he says, Because You are my help, I sing in the
shadow of Your wings. My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.
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