Praising God on the Hard Days

Scripture

  Psalm 145

¹   I will extol you, my God and King,
          and bless your name forever and ever.
²   Every day I will bless you,
          and praise your name forever and ever.
³   Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
          his greatness is unsearchable.

⁴   One generation shall laud your works to another,
          and shall declare your mighty acts.
⁵   On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
          and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
⁶   The might of your awesome deeds shall be proclaimed,
          and I will declare your greatness.
⁷   They shall celebrate the fame of your abundant goodness,
          and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

⁸   The Lord is gracious and merciful,
          slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
⁹   The Lord is good to all,
          and his compassion is over all that he has made.

¹⁰  All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,
          and all your faithful shall bless you.
¹¹  They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom,
          and tell of your power,
¹²  to make known to all people your mighty deeds,
          and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
¹³  Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
          and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

     The Lord is faithful in all his words,
          and gracious in all his deeds.
¹⁴  The Lord upholds all who are falling,
          and raises up all who are bowed down.
¹⁵  The eyes of all look to you,
          and you give them their food in due season.
¹⁶  You open your hand,
          satisfying the desire of every living thing.
¹⁷  The Lord is just in all his ways,
          and kind in all his doings.
¹⁸  The Lord is near to all who call on him,
          to all who call on him in truth.
¹⁹  He fulfills the desire of all who fear him;
          he also hears their cry, and saves them.
²⁰  The Lord watches over all who love him,
          but all the wicked he will destroy.

²¹  My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
          and all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever.

(NRSV)

Devotion

Greetings from quarantine!  Over the weekend, I (like many people) discovered that despite all the precautions I have taken, I had been exposed to COVID.  This was the moment I had been dreading for months.  And as I began the process of getting my own test and entering into quarantine, I realized that I had a choice to make.  Just how transparent do I want to be about this process.  I discerned that the Holy Spirit was asking me to be open about experience.   And so you can expect the next few blog posts to offer some reflections on  what is happening in here.

First a physical health update:  While I was finishing this post, my test results came back negative!  I will remain in quarantine and get tested again in several days to confirm that I truly do not have the virus.  The good news is that even if I do, I should not have been able to pass it to anyone else before I went into quarantine.  I am incredibly thankful for this news.

 Now, for the spiritual refection: I was devastated when I first learned I had been exposed to the virus.  As a relatively young and relatively healthy person, my biggest fear was (and remains) that I had unknowingly transmitted to someone at a higher risk.  Then, there was a second level of personal concerns.  Did I have enough groceries for 14 days?  How was I going to successfully work from home when I couldn't go back into the office to get certain things?  What would people say once they learned what had happened?  Finally, there were all the practical things I needed to do in order to quickly and efficiently inform people about what was happening.  In the first few hours, it all seemed like too much to handle.

 It's at moments like that when I find it hard to be like the psalmist and bless God's name every day (vs. 2).  After all, how can a person celebrate when life events leave you feeling scared and uncertain about someone's safety?  Pandemics and other such crises do not feel like occasions to sing about the glorious splendor of God's majesty.  Then again, maybe they are.

As I began alerting people to the situation, an amazing thing happened.  The very folks who should be upset because I had been in contact with them were immediately asked what I needed and what they could do to help.  And as word spread throughout my community, others began reaching out to me.  When one person heard that my milk was about to expire, she left a fresh half gallon and a vase of sunflowers outside my door. Two others dropped off homemade soup, a drink from my coffee shop, and a bit of extra cat-food...just in case.  Friends in other states set up Zoom get togethers for the next two weeks, and another told me to prepare myself for a care package that should be arriving in the near future.  A minister offered to pick up any emergency pastoral care needs that may arise.  And that doesn't even begin to cover the outpouring of well wishes and prayers that people have sent me from as close as down the street to as far away as Australia.

To say that I am touched by this outpouring of love doesn't even begin to cover how I feel.  Each time someone offered a word of encouragement, I received a glimpse of God's grace, mercy, and faithfulness at work in them.  Each foil wrapped container of green beans and macaroni and cheese is a literal reminder that God gives us our food in due season.  Life may not always be easy, but God is always good.  And it is through regular, ordinary people that God shows his compassion for all that he has made...even me.

And so it was that when the day I had dreaded finally arrived, I found myself giving thanks to God for all the goodness he had poured into my life.  I could praise God's name, because I could see that the Holy Spirit was inspiring others to hold me up just as I was about to fall.  And though I could have technically survived the next 14 days on my own, I am thankful that God has surrounded me with people who are willing and able to help from a safe distance.

Beloved, sometimes it is that hardest days that give us the most reasons to praise God's name.  For God's greatness is made know each time we give or receive the help each of us so desperately needs.  In those moments, our lives become testaments to God's glory.  May all the generations continue to declare God's mighty acts.

 

Prayer 

God of glory, thank you for all that you do to lift us up when we are bowed down low.  May your praises be ever on our lips.  When we are frustrated or hurting, may we be grateful for the ways you work through others to help us.  When someone we know is struggling, may you work through us to  ease their burdens so that they may see how truly great you are.  May all Creation give thanks for your steadfast love.  Amen.