I spent this week couch-bound and on significant quantities of medication for bursitis of the hip while my family faithfully loved on me. Twas a painful adventure. The hip part, not the getting loved on. I gained a whole lot of respect and sympathy for people who live with chronic pain...it is very draining. And soul searching. I wrestled with a bit of "I can't say I'm entirely pleased" myself this week, even if I didn't really require a hip replacement. As I prayed, assuring God that there were plenty of things I'd rather be doing than lying there in constant pain, He very sweetly invited me to stop whining and trust Him. And then He kindly provided the grace to do just that.
You see, God is rich in mercy! He loves us with passionate perfection! His promises are sure! His love never fails! Even when pain is constant and you don't know for how long. Even when we don't understand what He is doing or why He is doing it. For the past couple of weeks I have been thinking about 1 Peter 1:3-9. "...according to His abundant mercy...living hope...kept by the power of God...In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials..." Those three little words in verse 6 have spoken volumes to me as pain-filled tears streaked down my face this week. As the One who tells us He is love works in our lives, we can trust Him. We may not see the big picture. We may not understand. He may or may not give us clues as to why He is doing some particular thing. And that's okay. We know His character. We know He can be trusted. When He says "if need be," we can rest knowing it is indeed needful and that He will finish what He has begun in us...rescuing, redeeming, restoring, healing, transforming, resurrecting.
1 Peter 1:3
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead..."
That is good news, is it not?
And for those of you who want a progress report, God has graciously brought about a great deal of healing in the past week and I've been able to pack up my tears until such a time as He deems it need be again. I am thankful for the tender mercies of my God which are new every morning, for my chiropractor and his wisdom/skill in helping me through this, for my family who took incredible care of me all week long, and for the prayers of a handful of friends who knew my state. But the thing I want us all to take away from this post is the trustworthy character and love of our Father...He is good ALL THE TIME.
