Good morning, dear readers.
David has fled from his kingdom and son Absalom:
I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the Lord sustained me.
Do we see a hint of the old childhood night time prayer? Remember how it goes? "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray Thee Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray Thee Lord my soul to take. If I should live for other days, I pray Thee Lord to guide my ways."
Back to David.
He was in fear of his life, from his own son. He knew he was vulnerable, and that Absalom could kill David while he slept.
Let's be honest here. Some of us have hoped to die before we waked, because our grieving spirits are so tired, so hopeless, and so beaten. Countless times, I prayed my heart would stop, after my son died by suicide. I could not, did not, want to live another day. It was too harsh.
One morning I waked, though, and I stopped praying for my heart to stop beating. God got me through my valley of the shadows, and I wanted to keep on living if that was His will. I still said to Lord God that I would rather go on to be with Him, but if He chose me to stay--okay.
If you have wanted your heart to stop beating, just know, dear one, a day will come. A day that, if you keep searching for God to work in your life, you'll wake to realize you hadn't asked Him to take you while you slept. Praise God for that! The Lord will sustain you through your time of defeat.
The bonus to my not wanting to wake and now no longer feeling that way? I no longer fear death. That my friends is a good thing, but I think there is more to it than just that one lesson. It took years to feel ready to live again. In that process, I learned to lean on God and not on myself. I learned that God is God and I'm not.
My prayer for us today: Dear Lord, thank You for bringing us this far through our valley of the shadows. Where we can not see. Where we are so vulnerable as King David while he slept. Please Father, let this day be a new beginning to trust in You more. In Jesus' holy name, I ask. Amen.
Until next Monday . . . from now on allow the Lord to sustain you.
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