Carry On!

Have you ever broken anything that just crushed you? A collector of miniature pianos, one of my favorite was one of glass – a gift from a friend. Little boys and glass-anything are not a good combination so when it shattered there was no one to blame except myself. Silly, silly me!

Most all of us have experienced a dark night of the soul, and all the despair that accompanies it. It is usually Satan’s finest hour; that time when he feeds the wounded spirit with all sorts of decaying thoughts of self-worth and hope. I just finished a Biblical novel about one of my heroes of the faith – David, son of Jesse. As King of Israel, David [too] found himself in an extremely dark hour when he had followed his heart rather than God’s Laws, committing both adultery and murder. Psalm 51 reveals David’s soul-plea for God’s mercy (“Have mercy on me, O God” V.1) and restoration (“Restore to me the joy of Your salvation” V.12). Although David’s sin with Bathsheba is notorious, let’s not ever forget about the amazing and rich grace of God to forgive and restore. By His grace, their marriage survived so much – their own sinfulness, the death of their firstborn child, and broken and strained family relationships. God was gracious to forgive and to restore them both, bless them with Solomon who would continue the reign of David as promised. You see, there is no loss of hope ever in Christ Jesus! There’s no dark night so dark, no pit so deep, no soul so in despair that Elohim (God, Mighty Creator) and Yahweh Rophe (The LORD Who Heals) is not present and all-powerful. No amount of Mr. Bill and his many glues could restore the shattered glass piano, but God forgives – heals – restores and His grace is more than sufficient for us to carry on to His Glory. Praise be forever and ever, Amen!