Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress.
He sent out his word and healed them;
he rescued them from the grave.
Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for mankind.
-- Psalms 107:19-21
The "they" in this Psalm refers to any number of people who have been suffering - the homeless, the hungry and thirsty, the prisoners, the desperate, those near death. God's word--the words of the Bible, but also the Word, Jesus--is sent to heal the hurting, to give them life. Psalm 107 is a long, beautiful poem about how God "lift[s] the needy out of affliction," causing the "upright" and the wise to "see and rejoice."
Do you ever wonder if you have been "sent" for a particular purpose? Maybe your wisdom was just what someone needed at a tough time in your life--or maybe your foolishness was the example that inspired someone to make wiser choices. Maybe you phoned someone at their darkest moment of despair and saved them. (My sister did this for me in 1992!)
Or maybe it's a bigger picture: You were sent to be the parent, teacher, or mentor to a particular child, or the soulmate to your soulmate.
I think it's important to keep in mind the weight that we have in other people's lives. Are we "sent" to be in certain places in certain times, for certain people? I haven't always thought so, but I think we are, at least in the big-picture sense of God's providence. And while we aren't sent in the same way Christ was sent for us, we can still be aware of the vital role we can play in bringing comfort and laughter and healing to those who are hurting.
Today's photos have a bit of background. Toward the end of my time working for Galaxy Digital, I was overwhelmed with anxiety. I'd stopped sleeping, and my whole body hurt because it was constantly so rigid with stress. I'd gone to North Carolina to work in Asheville a couple of days and was staying with my sister and her family.
E-monk (my oldest niece) wanted me to sleep in her trundle bed, so she decorated it for me. She even put my book right on top! Her little sister, SG, kept me laughing while I was there, and we took a series of silly selfies.
That night, I slept hard, for the first time in many months. The laughter and the love I shared with these two girls had temporarily loosened the grip of anxiety, long enough for me to get some much-needed rest. Were they "sent" to play that small but important role in my life right then? Who knows? What's important is that I needed them, and they were there.
We are here--alive at this scary moment in time, living where we live among our families, our neighbors, our community. Have we been "sent" to help our families stay calm in a rapidly changing world, to help our elderly neighbors with shopping and other errands? To help give hope and rest to someone who is anxious? Perhaps. Even we haven't, we can do those things anyway. And maybe take a few silly selfies while we're at it.
and he saved them from their distress.
He sent out his word and healed them;
he rescued them from the grave.
Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for mankind.
-- Psalms 107:19-21
The "they" in this Psalm refers to any number of people who have been suffering - the homeless, the hungry and thirsty, the prisoners, the desperate, those near death. God's word--the words of the Bible, but also the Word, Jesus--is sent to heal the hurting, to give them life. Psalm 107 is a long, beautiful poem about how God "lift[s] the needy out of affliction," causing the "upright" and the wise to "see and rejoice."
Do you ever wonder if you have been "sent" for a particular purpose? Maybe your wisdom was just what someone needed at a tough time in your life--or maybe your foolishness was the example that inspired someone to make wiser choices. Maybe you phoned someone at their darkest moment of despair and saved them. (My sister did this for me in 1992!)
Or maybe it's a bigger picture: You were sent to be the parent, teacher, or mentor to a particular child, or the soulmate to your soulmate.
I think it's important to keep in mind the weight that we have in other people's lives. Are we "sent" to be in certain places in certain times, for certain people? I haven't always thought so, but I think we are, at least in the big-picture sense of God's providence. And while we aren't sent in the same way Christ was sent for us, we can still be aware of the vital role we can play in bringing comfort and laughter and healing to those who are hurting.
Today's photos have a bit of background. Toward the end of my time working for Galaxy Digital, I was overwhelmed with anxiety. I'd stopped sleeping, and my whole body hurt because it was constantly so rigid with stress. I'd gone to North Carolina to work in Asheville a couple of days and was staying with my sister and her family.
E-monk (my oldest niece) wanted me to sleep in her trundle bed, so she decorated it for me. She even put my book right on top! Her little sister, SG, kept me laughing while I was there, and we took a series of silly selfies.
That night, I slept hard, for the first time in many months. The laughter and the love I shared with these two girls had temporarily loosened the grip of anxiety, long enough for me to get some much-needed rest. Were they "sent" to play that small but important role in my life right then? Who knows? What's important is that I needed them, and they were there.
We are here--alive at this scary moment in time, living where we live among our families, our neighbors, our community. Have we been "sent" to help our families stay calm in a rapidly changing world, to help our elderly neighbors with shopping and other errands? To help give hope and rest to someone who is anxious? Perhaps. Even we haven't, we can do those things anyway. And maybe take a few silly selfies while we're at it.
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| E-monk decorated the trundle bed! |
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| Selfies! |
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| Selfies! |
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