One day recently, a man
came in to Outflow whose circumstances had seemingly been improving, but all of
the sudden, things had fallen apart again. He was in complete
despair. He was disappointed and seemed very sad. He kept repeating
that he was really trying to follow Jesus. Laura prayed with him and
a friend of his also happened to be in earshot. The friend burst
into prayer right in the middle of Laura's sentence. It was as if he
just couldn't help but pray for his friend.
A couple of days later,
our despairing friend came back (feeling seemingly a bit better),
grabbed a Bible and took it upstairs to read Psalm 16. I wondered
why that particular Psalm was on his mind, so I looked it up and read
it myself. It says this:
“I will bless the Lord
who guides me; even at night my heart instructs me. I know the Lord
is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is always right
beside me. No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests
in safety. For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow
your holy one to rot in the grave. You will show me the way of life,
granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with
you forever.” (7-11)
How comforting this is.
I am thankful for this man who sought comfort in scripture and
whose example led me to these words, reminding me that the Lord is
always right beside me, that he guides me and grants me joy now and
pleasures forever.
The fact that the importance of consistently spending time in the Word and following Jesus when things are hard was reinforced to me by a poor, broken man is not surprising. After all:
“Listen to me, dear
brothers and sisters. Hasn't God chosen the poor in this world to be
rich in faith? Aren't they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he
promised to those who love him?” James 2:5
--Chanelle
