Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be jubilant, my feet!

O God, when You went out before Your people,
When You marched through the wilderness, Selah.
The earth trembled;
The heavens also poured down rain at the presence of God;
You, O God, sent abroad plentiful rain;
You confirmed Your inheritance when it was parched and weary.
Your flock found a dwelling place in it;
O God, in Your goodness You provided for the poor. Psalm 68:7-10

I have seen Him in the watch fires

Of a hundred circling camps.

They have builded Him an altar

In the evening dew and damps.

I can read His righteous sentence

In the dim and flaring lamps.

His day is marching on.

Huh.

Friday prayers once again, as I walk through the words that have taken root over the many, many years, perhaps pruned and snipped here and there, but for the most part, prayers that came not from my understanding, but from the Spirit within. For Colby and Karen. For Amy and Jackson. Sophie. Harrison. Even Otto the wonderful friend.

And my Friday prayer for myself stares up at me today. And I am a different person than I was just a Friday ago.

I pray that I will be a light to the nations as He declares new things. 

And new things at this moment, in a way that it has never felt before. is new things that you, Mz. Christy, do not even have the tiniest clue of what lies ahead. Not the tiniest.

And sure, I have been reading James and the admonition not to state with implied arrogance, “Next week I shall go up to such and so town and do business,” but this moment just before dawn feels much more wide open.

Even before I read Email Number 47 from Sally, Director of Mar Qardakh School.

And I have been reading Lamentations. And Ezra.

Oh yes, and I have been reading the headlines.

And God is so very beyond our small understanding as He works to will His good purpose.

And I read this morning that Abraham Lincoln wept the first time he heard “Glory, Glory, Hallelujah.”

His day is marching on.

Selah.

Almighty God, to Whom our needs are known before we ask.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Jesus Christ, the merciful Father and the God who gives every possible encouragement; He supports us in every hardship, so that we are able to come to the support of others, in every hardship of theirs because of the encouragement that we ourselves receive from God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

You sent a gracious rain, O God, upon Your inheritance, You refreshed the land when it was weary. Your people found their home in it, in Your goodness, O God, You have made provision for the poor. Psalm 68:7-10

Man, my little Wednesday night supper club is walking through the dark valley and humanly speaking, it is very impossible to see beyond the jagged pitfalls that lurk in each day, much less the long road that lies ahead. But. There is certainly a Presence in our midst, Who gives every possible encouragement as these impossible tales are told.  And all that stuff about strands woven together are not easily broken is apparent, even though the way out is not.  And it is with humility I accept their support, because they are so clearly filled with the mercy of our Father God.

And we are His inheritance. And He is faithful to send a gracious rain when we are weary. And we have found a home in His goodness, as He provides for the poor and brokenhearted.

Thus refreshed and warmed, may I go out today to be a comfort. To encourage and support, because He has been my Comfort. Because Life Is Hard, capitalized. But He is good. And I saw some quote yesterday, maybe by Bono, about there is so much pain in the world so it proves that there is enough goodness, and I had to wrestle with it all day, because at face value, it doesn’t make much sense.

But deep within, it speaks truth.

It’s the astonishing truth that while I serve Christ, it is He who serves me. Jesus Christ still lives with a towel around His waist, bent in service to His people … in service to me, as I serve, that I need never serve in my own strength. –Voskamp

Quietly may I fill the day’s basins with warm water.