…the continuation
(read yesterday’s post first or you’ll miss a lot)
So, one of the ongoing jokes is when Mom asks me if I want whipped cream on a dessert, she always looks impishly and says, “Do you want any more, I know how much you like whipped cream?” and we laugh. But seriously, I’d have never managed to endure the flavour OR texture of that pumpkin pie without it. It was easier to slide it down my throat cushioned on the soft, slippery and sweet goodness of the whipped cream (imagining it to be a different pie I liked) than to actually taste or feel it in my mouth.
Life is a grand adventure, but it is filled with tons of bad flavours and textures along the way: hurts, shattered dreams, tough relationships, burdens, worries, pain, sickness, love lost, death, humiliation, sorrow, famines, accidents, financial difficulties, troubles, disasters, abuses, oppressions, wars… I could go on and on, but you get the picture. We are surrounded by hard times, and that’s a ‘bitter pill to swallow’. Sometimes pills, and pie, are easier to swallow with a little help from another food or drink.
So it is in this life we have the greatest of all helps available to us. “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.” (Ps. 121:1,2) Our Lord is our help in times of trouble. It’s not that He eliminates the bad flavours and textures (although occasionally He chooses to), but that He makes them easier to get through.
The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Dt. 31:8 NIV
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 1Pt. 1:3,4
We don’t have to feel alone when we’re struggling. We don’t have to feel like there’s no hope when our world is shattered. We don’t have to despair quite so much for He is with us and we know He will stay with us through it all and give us strength to endure (Php. 4:13). Best of all, one day we know we will be with Him in a place where we will never have to go through such difficult times again (Rev. 21,22).
The Lord is like the whipped cream on my pumpkin pie. He makes everything in life taste better, and I can’t imagine a world without Him with me. We may not have it easy most or any of the time, but with the Lord we can make it through and arrive safely in His arms in Heaven. Hear the words of the Psalmist:
the Psalmist's cry
My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God? Ps. 42:3
the Psalmist's resolution
Why are thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my
God. Ps. 42:11