Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Rejoice

A Devotional by Margot Cioccio

Rejoice: A Photo I took at an art show early this summer. 
I keep my eyes always on the Lord. 
With him at my right hand, 
I will not be shaken. 
Psalm 16:8NIV

I suppose this is a good reminder for any day. For me it is a good reminder after a kind of crazy day of spinning many possibilities of ways to resolve our current car repair solution. 
I was given a name of another shop to call to get a second opinion. Will try to call them tomorrow. Not sure if I can drive the car there or not. Lots of questions to ask the mechanic when I talk to him. 

Looking at other options possibly trading the car in on something newer. Selling the car ourselves and then finding a decent used car to buy. I hate car shopping.  We even talked about sharing a vehicle with my mom which ranged all they way from maybe they don't need a car since they live in a small town and don't go anywhere. To the other end of the spectrum of moving them closer to Spokane, or getting a house big enough to include them in our home. So we looked on Craigs List and drove by some places. One was a dump and the other was very nice. Some of the thought behind that is that my mom is having more trouble taking care of my aunt who is dealing with a bit of dementia. Combining incomes makes affording a large house possible plus it solves the car situation. I know that we may be moving that way at some point as they get older but all of us were thinking it was still in the future and maybe it still is. We had been talking about my mom and aunts changing needs before all this car stuff came up.

I am reminded of the words from Philippians on how to handle every situation. I've put it in bold in the verse below for you. 

Philippians 4:4-9 (NIV)
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Much of the solutions we came up with seem way too complicated and filled with things I would rather not be having to deal with while starting back to school after 30 years. I wonder if this a catalyst to make some change or do I need to simply stand firm and expect to see the deliverance of God. I have been trying to do my part of exploring the options that I can see. At this point I am tired and still have nothing settled.

No decisions have been made at this point it has been a brainstorming kind of day. All the things I can think of cost money that I don't have to pull off.  When you have done all you know to do - you stand. You wait, you watch for God to open some door or provide a way where one did not previously exist. Tomorrow I will try to do less spinning of solutions and more waiting and trusting. I have students tomorrow so I don't see that I'll have much time to deal with this subject anyway. 

Still... I remember the many, many times God has helped me in the past, 
when the situation was beyond my ability to fix. God supplied. 

I keep my eyes always on the Lord. 
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 
Psalm 16:8 NIV

God says to us...
I Am....
I Am your healer
I Am your provider
I Am your deliverer
I Am your shepherd
I Am able to make a way when there seems to be no way. 

He has parted rivers, raised the dead, healed the sick, set the captives free, made the lame to walk and the blind to see. His name is Jesus and this current trial will pass and become yet another memory of God's love, kindness, grace and mercy in my life. 

Prayer: I pray that not matter what you may be going through that you would keep your eyes on the Lord. I pray that although it may feel like your head is spinning, that God is our rock of refuge. He is our hiding place in the storms. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Like me perhaps you need to push the weight of your situation back over onto the Lords more capable hands. I pray the Lord will meet you right now and give you His peace. 

No comments:

Post a Comment

The Standing King

An edited version of this Art Reflection was shared at The Gathering House Church in Spokane Washington and presented on March 31, 20...