“Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever mine…I have more insight than all my teachers…I understand more than the aged…I have restrained my feet from every evil way…for You Yourself have taught me.” Ps. 119:98-102
Despite his afflicted state, the psalmist in Ps. 119 repeatedly tells us that God’s words give him a sweet richness to his life, more wisdom than his enemies, more insight than all his teachers, more understanding than the aged, plus an internal strength to walk in righteousness.
Now, what believer in his right mind would NOT take advantage of these kinds of benefits?
One who truly does not believe to the core of their being, that’s who. For if we truly believe God at His Word (believe wholeheartedly that what He says is so), and not to our own limited understanding of His Word (leaning to our own limited understanding or fears), He comes through on His promises 100% of the time.
Well, God chose to test Betsy on this very thing, vacillating faith, this past week. And as Ps. 119:105-112 describes, I thankfully passed ‘the test’ and got to experience God personally revive me with His Word, then guide me, teach me, protect me (and my loved ones), and impart inexpressible joy to my heart. ~~ Now, I would like to say that my conviction never waivered, but that would be a lie…for fear gripped my heart as one of our sons struggled to come out from under general anesthesia Friday evening. You see, it was Conner’s 2nd surgery under general anesthesia in 8 days. (And both administered with enough “juice” to bring down a small elephant… so the docs tell us. And at 6’61/2” 240lbs, I suppose our 17 yr. old Conner John is a small elephant!)
Last Friday, when Conner was to be in surgery at 1pm, in recovery by 2pm, and home by 3pm, you can only imagine my thoughts when by 6pm Shaun was still not able to see Conner in the recovery room. (Regretfully yes, my imaginations started to run wild…but thankfully I caught myself relatively early as I sat down by the creek in our yard and poured out my heart to the Lord. 2Cor. 10:5) In my tears, I reminded God of the promises He had given me in our intimate time together recently. And in faith I chose to believe these promises, and not listen to my fears.
(Oh yeah, in addition to this scenario, I was having difficulty shaking a most disturbing dream that I’d had the night before. In the short version of this dream, I stood near a cliff side and watched in horror as Conner and Shaun were swept away by large torrent of water while rock climbing…~people were wailing over their dead loved ones…~I looked to my left hand and my wedding bands were missing…~Conner and Shaun no where to be found…~~~ Eventually, both Conner and Shaun were recovered, quite battered, but alive; and my wedding bands were found. Now back to reality:
In His perfect timing (and sense of humor), God also chose to send my amazing 4’11” kick-butt NYC all-heart dear girlfriend, Mary, to stay with us during this unscheduled surgery. And as I met her in tears around the 6 o’clock hour Friday evening, her NYC accented response went something like this: “What the F? Get in the car; we’re going down to the hospital!”… Perhaps not “God language”, but it was definitely God speaking straight to Betsy in the only way I was able to clearly “get” God’s multifaceted message to me!
Long story short, it’s now 3 days post-op, and Conner is doing well. And our family has been blessed beyond measure as we’ve been privileged to watch God work with such a tangible presence in and through our lives this week. ~~ And He will do the same for you.
Have an amazing week as we each seek Him daily, and walk with Him through the practicalities of our own lives! Join us this Sunday for the 3rd of 4 sessions of “Marriage on the Rock (not rocks)”; it’s been a blast for both married and singles.
Much love,
Shaun and Betsy
