“May Your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant.”
Ps. 119:76
I have been so amazed by how God provides and challenges me. I have been building a relationship with a woman who had been sick with heart issues in the woman’s ward at the hospital here in Manzini. I learned of her family- she had 5 girls including 5-month-old twins. I began to pray for her to heal so she could go home and take care of them. She was so concerned about her babies well being. I had been praying for her and visiting for three weeks and was so excited to see her go home. I was shocked as I walked into the children’s ward less than a week after she went home to find her twin baby girls admitted as patients. Part of me was excited to meet and hold and pray over the babies I had heard so much about yet the realness of them being sick hit me like a brick. I sat with her and sang one of the girls to sleep. I promised to be praying and hoped to see her Tuesday although she told me they should be well by then. They were there for diarrhea and she said usually after a couple days they are better. I was so excited to see that the babies were gone today when I went to visit until the other mothers looked so sad when I asked about them. One of the girls had died the day after I had last visited. The other went home healthy. I was shocked.
I couldn’t understand. I had seen so much pain and right after I talk with my mom about how He is teaching me of His hope and the love that comes with it… this happens. Why Lord? I don’t understand. I found the verse listed above and was reminded of His amazing ways of comfort. He is an incredible comforter. As I said before God provides and in this circumstance I found His comfort.
The challenge comes with how He challenged me. The challenge has been progressing over the last couple of weeks but I hadn’t made the connection of the title until today. I was away from home with a broken ankle** and just wanted to be comfortable. I was thinking of how much easier and injury like this would be if I had a couch and a variety of Grey’s Anatomy seasons on DVD. God challenged me in the things I had surrendered… I had given Him my appearance, my friends, even my family and my plans, but now my comfort? I came to the realization that God has not called me or any of us as His people to a life of comfort. Sometimes He blesses us with the luxuries of life but that is no promise. No where in the Bible does it say that when you come to Him, your stresses and discomfort subside. So much of this for me came down to trusting He will provide and even more that His plan for provision is better than mine.
“Lord, help me to understand You. Cover me in Your comfort but push me out of my comfort zone as I serve You that You may be glorified. Thank you for showing me each day a little more of who You are.”
**I got my cast off yesterday!! Thank you for all your prayers. Please pray for continued healing and recovery.
