Good Morning Everyone!
Today is Psalm 149 in our reading--almost finished with the Psalms!
I chose verse 4 to record in my notebook--partly because of the verse itself, and partly because of the note my Study Bible had to go along with this verse. It reminded me of a situation in my past where the Lord really had to work on my heart! But first, the verse:
"For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation." Psalm 149:4
Once upon a time, a long long time ago, my family was living in a different state, and my husband was working for a different school. We had our son, who has a disability, and he was receiving a certain therapy which was helping him greatly. My husband's employer was going to be making some changes to our health insurance, and since we were concerned that the special needed therapy might stop with the new insurance company, we went and talked with my husband's boss about this concern. The individual assured us that our son would continue to receive the therapy he was already receiving (even if the insurance company would not pay for it he assured us that the school would), and even went so far as to put this in writing in a letter for us. Well, you can guess what happened--the insurance company changed, the new insurance company did not want to pay for the therapy, and all of a sudden our son was not receiving what he so badly needed. And worst of all--this individual would not honor the promise he had put in writing and given to us!
Needless to say, my "Mamma Bear" side of me was furious! You know how it is--you can take something away from a mom, but don't take it away from her child! (And a disabled child at that!) And yet--there was nothing that I could do. Nothing except nurture bitterness and hatred for this individual--which I was pretty sure was not what God would be wanting me to do! And yet I felt like this person was SO WRONG in their behavior, and of course, it is always worse when they are a Christian, because you expect more from them! (Oh how often we ourselves fail! What example are WE giving to other people, who expect more from us?)
I cannot pretend--it was HARD. Fortunately, I had a wonderful friend who wisely counseled me to give it up. Let it go--let God handle it, whether our son got this therapy or not, our son belonged to God and if HE wanted him to have the therapy He would open a way. It was still hard, but with God's help, I was able to let go of the anger inside of me that I had for this individual. And you know what happened? God opened up a completely different avenue, and in the end our son continued to receive this needed therapy, even though a promise had been broken. Yes, a thousand ways our God has to meet our needs, of which we know nothing-- I am convinced!
And the note in my Study Bible this morning? This is the note that reminded me of this story from my past:
"Far better would it be for us to suffer under false accusation than to inflict upon ourselves the torture of retaliation upon our enemies. The spirit of hatred and revenge originated with Satan, and can bring only evil to him who cherishes it. Lowliness of heart, that meekness which is the fruit of abiding in Christ, is the true secret of blessing. 'He will beautify the meek with salvation' (Psalm 149:4)."
Mount of Blessing, by E. G. White, p. 17
Are YOU battling an enemy this morning? Give your battle to Him. Rest in His mighty arms, and trust that He will bring about the outcome that is best.
~Susan
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