Scripture Reading: “This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalms. 118:24)
This is one of my favorite verses. I start my morning prayer with this verse every day. It’s a verse that I relate to and a reminder that God is the one in control but it’s up to me to choose whether I’m grateful and/or joyful or whether I respond in a different way. This is a comfortable verse for me because I am grateful for each day and life is generally pretty good. It’s easy to be grateful and joyful when life is pretty good. However, I recognize that other people have circumstances in their lives that make this verse more challenging in terms of “rejoicing and being glad in it”. Trials present themselves and life starts to feel less gratifying and less joyful. How do we respond?
Last year I wrote a blog about a friend, “G”, who had suffered a life-threatening injury and how inspired I was by the way her family responded to this tragedy. I knew this was a strong family of faith but was completely in awe of how they were handling the situation. “T”, her husband, from the day of her injury had emphasized to his girls that each day was a gift, and they would praise God for any time they had, or any progress made. At the time no one knew what her future would look like. That is still true a year later. Because of the severity of her injury her health care has been extremely challenging including intensive care and long-term rehabilitation. To make the situation more difficult the world saw the emergence of Covid 19 which changed everything, including the approach and availability of medical care and rehabilitation. Because of Covid no one from her family could be with her in the medical rehab facility so they decided to take her home and provide 24-hour care. Their support team, which had included medical professionals and dozens of friends and family, was reduced down to her husband, her sister, and a mother/daughter care team. They, as a family, were, and continue to be, exhausted but have never given up hope. For most of us it would be difficult to continue to thank the Lord and be grateful or joyful for these circumstances. The family posts a daily blog to keep all of us informed on her progress. Every single post, while sometimes uplifting, sometimes depressing, never fails to give thanks to the Lord and show gratitude for the gift of that day.
From the outside looking in this has been a painful journey to watch. However, it is also a story of amazing love of family members and love between this family and God. Painful to have so many unknowns and yet beautiful in that they have never blamed God or lost faith. I’m sure they have questions and ask “why” but that has never been their focus. The family refers to her journey as a marathon, not a sprint. They ask for prayers for their endurance and her healing. They are joyful with each small victory in her recovery and consider it their ministry to provide love and care. I think of James 1:2-3, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance”.
The family’s daily post, written by her husband, recently stated,“G” and I have talked about thanking him (God) for whatever comes our way. If we had his perspective, we could see why this is happening and the good that will come from it. I remind “G”, God must be really doing some good through our present trial. She seems to trust that encouragement and have hope in his promises.”
In my life I have had seasons of highs and lows but nothing to this degree. This family inspires me every day to strive to have their complete trust in our Lord! They have shown me how to take each day and appreciate the gifts it brings. To me they embody Psalm 11:24 and how important it is, even when life isn’t that easy.
“Heavenly Father, thank you for the example of this beautiful family. We are so grateful that you never leave us to go through trials alone. Please help us continue to learn from you and to bring honor through our perseverance. In your precious name we pray. Amen.”