The Weekly Encourager – March 20, 2015 – Seeing God's Hand...and Wrist

“Shall we receive only pleasant things from the hand of God and never anything unpleasant?” - Job 2:10

A lot has happened since I last wrote here. It's been a time of ups and downs. Shortly after my last post, I traveled to see one of my quilts displayed in a major judged and juried show. It was an honor to have my original work in the company of such high artistic and technical achievement. Also, this particular piece had been rejected by another show, but my friend Gitta encouraged me to try again, so this acceptance was an affirmation. Due to a large snowstorm hitting that area, the highways were perfectly plowed yet deserted, so I made excellent time on the trip. I felt so much joyful anticipation that day and I was praising the Lord!

The next morning I arrived early and eager at the Convention Center, and promptly slipped on black ice in the parking lot! To spare you a lot of boring details, I fell on my wrist, and it turned out to be a bad sprain and a big pain. After about five hours of waiting at three different places, I was finally seen and given x-rays, splint, pain meds, etc. In addition, there were problems at my hotel (no hot water, etc.). If you view the characteristics of my personality type, you'll see that incompetence and inefficiency are two things that drive me nuts, and there were plenty of nuts! With only one hand, everything from dressing to driving to making meals to taking a bath (did I mention no hot water?) took twice as long as usual, and I was in a lot of pain. So, was I praising the Lord as I had been the previous day?

Sort of. If you've been following this blog, you know I've been thinking about thankfulness for some time. By God's grace, I started seeing God's hand in everything that was happening. That Job verse came up in my daily devotional and really struck me: “Shall we receive only pleasant things from the hand of God and never anything unpleasant?” - Job 2:10 I had a very pleasant day in which everything went right, followed by a very unpleasant day in which several things went wrong. I knew that God was testing me, to see if I'd still be rejoicing on Day 2. And I was! I'm not saying it was easy, but the Holy Spirit gave me strength developed by the discipline of practice.

My Pilates teacher calls it Pre-hab, instead of Rehab. You work all your muscles now and build up strength, so that if you fall and sprain your wrist, you'll heal faster. I saw the truth of this with my own eyes: for years I've been deliberately carrying weights and doing many tasks with my non-dominant hand in an effort to be more ambidextrous. After this recent injury, I saw just how much I've come to rely upon that second hand. Yet I know I've been healing much more quickly than I would have, had I never challenged that hand's capacity on a regular basis. There's an obvious spiritual parallel. Work those muscles of gratitude every day. Believe God's word when He says He's in control of all things, He does all that He plans to do, He uses evil for good, He disciplines those He loves, He strengthens us, He never leaves us. Be thankful, no matter what God sends your way! It's all for His perfect glory and our perfect good.

A few days later, a far worse thing happened to me than a sprained wrist. Someone close betrayed me, attributed false motives to me, accused me of lying, stealing, and more. This person was fed up with me and wanted nothing more to do with me, and told others that fact before telling me. The words were like being punched in the gut. I was an emotional basket case for the whole day. I think the only thing I “accomplished” that day was loading the dishwasher. I lost a full day of work. Yet, that day was part of God's plan, too. Again, it was test time in the Godly School of Gratitude. In those situations, it's harder to find things to thank God for – you just sit on the sofa and cry. Yet, after a time of crying out to our Lord who is “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief,” the Comforter surrounds you with his warm light. “Shall we receive only pleasant things from the hand of God and never anything unpleasant?” - Job 2:10 I was able to thank God for the many wonderful relationships I do have with family and friends, and many more blessings besides.

This life is not fair, but God is good. His hand will bring pleasant days and unpleasant ones, as needed to conform us to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. The hand that feeds us and sometimes slaps us will also hold us so that we never fall out. Jesus' love is not fickle like that of people, but faithful and true. His wrists bear the marks of that Supreme Love. Thank God!

God is faithful,
j