Sunday March 6, 2022
Psalm 91 is a comforting Psalm on the surface. It promises that if you live in the shelter of the Almighty, keep God as your fortress, the angels of the Lord will keep watch over you. They will make sure no evil ever comes your way. Yes, that all sounds well and good. Believe in God and your life will be a cushy one. Wait a minute, read it again more closely. That is not the promise at all! No one will get through life unscathed. What we are promised is that IF we call upon the Lord, we will be given aid. Something, someone will lend aid to help us through. That is what is meant by angels protecting us. All the readings for this first Sunday in Lent point to the fact that life will be a series of trials. We should expect that, but we should not lose heart. If we call out, believing that the Lord God hears us, we will survive. We are not guaranteed that the outcome will be everything we’ve hoped for, but it will be the right outcome for that time in our lives. Believing that, is where true faith comes in. So, how is my faith? Well, let me tell you that I was a long time in accepting the fact that I would never be a mother. I still lament that fact though I have come to grips with it. I have struggled to see how it fit into what I thought I was called to do with my life. Looking back, I can see how things would have been so different, and not necessarily for the better, if I’d had a family. Every day is a challenge to accept God’s will. Every day I must work at it. You will have to work at it, too. Read Psalm 91 again.