"Mi desto in un bagno / di care cose consuete / sorpreso / e raddolcito"
[I wake / awash in dear everyday things / surprised / and comforted]
- Giuseppe Ungaretti
Today, Thursday April 8, a life-size statue of Christ praying in the Garden of Gethsemane was unveiled at North Greenville College in Tigerville, South Carolina. This bronze statue is the second one created by Doug Young of Greenville, South Carolina, dougyoungstudios.com.
May this depiction of Christ at His moment of surrender, "Not my will, but Thine be done, " remind all who see it that there must be that moment for us all if we truly seek to serve Him.
Today I received an email reminder from God. It came from Him as clearly and directly as if He had sent it Himself.
Five months ago I posted an article called All I Need. Today, it was brought back to my attention because someone posted a comment to it. To you, that may not seem significant. But God knew that I needed to be taken back to my own words, my own lesson, my own meeting with Him that I had shared with so many others. I needed Him to remind me of His truth.
Life if full of major life-changing events for me right now. A son getting married and buying a house, a daughter graduating from college, a husband launching a new career as an artist, and on it goes. Every day brings new adventures in faith for us all. Every day brings new opportunities to rest and trust in the power and provision of God. Every day brings new occasions to doubt and fear for the future. Every day brings God's reminders that He can be trusted to care for us all.
Psalm 37:5 says
"Depend on the Lord.
Trust him, and He will do
what must be done." (English Version for the Deaf)
"Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass." (KJV)
I claimed that verse this morning, determined to get through the day without being faithless, saying and doing nothing that would dishonor my Provider. But there was a test in the middle of the day, a test I failed to pass, a test that shook the feeble planting of my own feet on my own determination to do it right and believe. Then I got the message, the email message that directed me back to the message of God. "I will give you what you need. Not what you think you need."
Today I didn't need a day without faltering faith. I needed a test of my faith so that my focus would return to Him and not my own ability to appear full of faith.
I can truly trust Him for "He WILL do what must be done."