At All Times I Will Bless Him

Psalms 34:1-3 ESV

 

“I will bless the Lord at all times;

    his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

My soul makes its boast in the Lord;

    let the humble hear and be glad.

Oh, magnify the Lord with me,

    and let us exalt his name together!”

 

At All Times

 

I live in the USA. My husband and I live in an apartment in the state of South Carolina. We live on the second floor (main floor entry, no stairs), with an apartment above us and one below us (20 apartments total in our building). We are presently experiencing some record low temperatures here in SC. It got down to 10 degrees last night and it is going to remain in the teens tonight and tomorrow night. So we know that we have to let our faucets drip to prevent frozen pipes, and so that is what we did.

 

Nonetheless, right after lunch today our youngest son (an adult), who was here eating with us, suddenly heard a noise like we were running the washing machine, which we were not. So I went to investigate and we were being flooded with water from the apartment above us, and the water was pouring into one bathroom and the laundry room and eventually also into the halls, the bedrooms, and parts of the kitchen and dining area. So we were doing all we could to find buckets to catch the water coming down.

 

The neighbor below us, who was also being flooded, was headed to the store to get buckets and he stopped by our apartment to see if there was anything he could get for us, which was very kind and thoughtful of him. And our oldest son offered to come over and help, too, with the catching of water and with cleanup and whatever needed to be done. That was a big help to us since I and our youngest son are both somewhat handicapped. But I was still able to help, though my husband and oldest son did the bulk of the work.

 

My computer suddenly became the target of water coming from the ceiling, so I was able to rescue it just in time, which is why I am still able to write on it this evening. But water was everywhere – in the lights, on the floors, in the ceiling, in the walls, and it was dumping fast and hard, so it was very difficult to keep up with it. But then finally maintenance turned the water off to our building so they could repair a broken water pipe that the builders had placed in the attic of our building, and so what is left is cleanup.

 

I Will Bless the Lord

 

What is interesting here is that for the three weeks prior to this incident, there was a water main break they were repairing, so once a week for three weeks they shut off our water to work on the water main, and then every time they turned the water back on we had to boil water for the next few days for it to be safe to use. So this was the fourth week in a row we have had our water shut off for a period of time. And then last night the Lord had me write a devotion about trials which come to test our faith.

 

So I can’t help but feel that all this is preparation for something yet to come, or perhaps it was just a test. But the Lord knew this was coming, and he prepared me for it ahead of time, and I know he allowed it in my life and in the life of my husband for a purpose. So I am trusting him to use this in our lives. And I do believe that God is going to bring good out of it. But there was a point in this, when the water was pouring in, that I wondered if all we had was going to be destroyed. And I had to be okay with that.

 

And I am at peace. And I trust the Lord in this. And I bless him. And I am thankful that it wasn’t much worse than what it is, but I know that around the corner could be something much worse that God is preparing me for, so I have to put my absolute trust in the sovereignty of God, that he has a plan in all of this, and that no matter what happens next, he is still good. And I pray that he would teach me through this whatever it is that he has for me to learn that I might grow closer to him in my walk of faith in him.

 

In reality, though, not one of us knows what tomorrow holds for us. We don’t even know what the next few minutes will hold for us. But we have to be good with God regardless of what trials he brings across our path in order to test our faith. If we are not, then we will not survive what we know is most certainly coming that is in the workings and which the Scriptures told us about in advance. So, my life is in the hands of God, and I rest in him no matter what comes my way. For God is good, all the time!

 

Have Thine Own Way, Lord

 

Words by Adelaide A. Pollard, 1907

Music by George C. Stebbins, 1907

 

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!

Thou art the potter, I am the clay.

Mold me and make me after Thy will,

While I am waiting, yielded and still.

 

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!

Search me and try me, Master, today!

Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just now,

As in Thy presence humbly I bow.

 

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!

Wounded and weary, help me I pray!

Power, all power, surely is Thine!

Touch me and heal me, Savior divine!

 

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!

Hold o'er my being absolute sway.

Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see

Christ only, always, living in me!

 

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