Shelter in the Storm
After an incredibly difficult few months, I’m going to have a go at getting back to blogging the lectionary.
It seems appropriate then, to begin with a prayer of thanks:
Isaiah 25:1-9 (CEV)
A Prayer of Thanks to God
25 You, Lord, are my God!
I will praise you
for doing the wonderful things
you had planned and promised
since ancient times.
2 You have destroyed the fortress
of our enemies,
leaving their city in ruins.
Nothing in that foreign city
will ever be rebuilt.
3 Now strong and cruel nations
will fear and honor you.
4 You have been a place of safety
for the poor and needy
in times of trouble.
Brutal enemies pounded us
like a heavy rain
or the heat of the sun at noon,
but you were our shelter.
5 Those wild foreigners struck
like scorching desert heat.
But you were like a cloud,
protecting us from the sun.
You kept our enemies from singing
songs of victory.
The Lord Has Saved Us
6 On this mountain
the Lord All-Powerful
will prepare
for all nations
a feast of the finest foods.
Choice wines and the best meats
will be served.
7 Here the Lord will strip away
the burial clothes
that cover the nations.
8 The Lord All-Powerful
will destroy the power of death
and wipe away all tears.
No longer will his people
be insulted everywhere.
The Lord has spoken!
9 At that time, people will say,
“The Lord has saved us!
Let’s celebrate.
We waited and hoped—
now our God is here.”
Sometimes giving thanks is the hardest thing to do. We all have times when it feels like we are being bombarded – with difficulties; with seemingly relentless stresses; with one thing after another; with the same thing going on and on and on… The last thing we feel like doing is giving thanks. We are busy enough just surviving. We cannot see God’s plan and purpose – never mind thank him for it.
But somehow we make it through. Maybe battered and bruised, certainly changed. And as we turn and look back, we see the shelter in the storm, the protection from the heat, a place of safety – and we give thanks.
Sometimes giving thanks is the only thing we can do, the simplest thing. To pray anything else is too hard, too big, way beyond us – but we can give thanks. Just rest in his shelter and be. Come to terms with where we are and how things are. In our troubles to rest and hope in God’s presence.
For here is the one who wipes away our tears. He doesn’t stop them, but holds us as we cry; as we sob on his shoulder and gently, lovingly wipes them.
We waited and hoped—
now our God is here.
Pam's Perambulation 
Thanks for this post. So glad for the hope that we have in Jesus and that He sees and cares about every one of our tears. I’m thankful for His love and support and that He’s provided me with others along the journey.