On April 13th our entire family along with our church began a forty day fast. That fast has now ended. I have been quite upset with my God. Yesterday morning as I wrote in my old spiral notebook journal and I made my complaint to my God. Forty days of fasting and You take…
As I attempted to prepare myself for my sister-in-law’s life celebration service I knew it was the 23rd of the month and I turned to Psalm 23 and I read,
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Psalm 23:4-6
but I was not comforted I was hurt.
As the tears fell and I once again asked God Why?, to my heart He said, What day did you receive her news? On the 27th… so I turned to Psalm 27 and I read.
One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord
And to meditate in His temple.
Psalm 27:4
In the margin of my Bible beside this verse I now have written, Daddy and Phillis have received their “one thing”. They now have received the greatest gift that any believer can hope for… they both dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
However, we who loved them so very much are left here on earth. We are troubled in our hearts and in our souls, but in our trouble He will conceal us in His tabernacle.
For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle;
In the secret place of His tent He will hide me;
He will lift me up on a rock.
And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me,
And I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.
Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice,
And be gracious to me and answer me.
When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You,
“Your face, O Lord, I shall seek.”
Do not hide Your face from me,
Do not turn Your servant away in anger;
You have been my help;
Do not abandon me nor forsake me,
O God of my salvation!
Psalm 27:5-9
In His tent we will worship Him and offer sacrifices with shouts of joy. Our sacrifice being our broken contrite hearts that cause our insides to churn within us but our lips to still sing His praise as we surrender to this new reality and wait with even more eager anticipation for the day of His coming. Oh come quickly Lord Jesus, come quickly.
As I cried out for the coming of our Lord, as I wrote in my journal His words to Seek Him and reminded Him that I was seeking Him, but He seemed to be hiding from me still. As I cried out for Him to help me, to not abandon me, to not forsake me, to help me understand, He sent me to seek Him in His Word and He landed me here…
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.
(1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)
Therefore comfort one another with these words…
Last night as I did devotions with our girls Bekah’s devotion was based on John 14:1 on the importance of believing and trusting in the Lord in all things and at all times and then Shelby’s was based on Job 1:21 and suffering and God’s sovereignty…
Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped. He said,
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
And naked I shall return there.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.
Job 1:20-22
So today… this Pentecost Sunday… we are going to try to arise and worship in this tent as those we love so very much worship in His temple. We are going to try and arise and walk in this new season of life, with hearts that feel empty from this new reality that is absent of two of the people that filled them with their smiles, laughter, and constant encouragement… and trust that His Holy Spirit is enough and He will fill our empty hearts with more of Himself.