Sadness

About 8 pm last night I got a phone call from a parishioner about a family whose son was in a bad wreck.  It sounded important but not critical, so I continued the in depth conversation I was part of, knowing I'd call back as soon as I could.  Fifteen minutes later my phone rang again.  This time I knew it wasn't just a wreck.

A couple's 22 year old son was riding his bicycle to work.  He was hit from behind by a car, and did not survive.  He lives several hours away, and was just married six weeks ago.  I rushed to the family's home.  And we cried and prayed and packed.  They had close friends there already.  A couple from choir came to help them drive down to where he ans his wife lived.  Their Sunday School class came by for hugs.  They were surrounded with love and grace, even in the midst of sadness.

So, as I read these Psalms, these verses from Psalm 109, stuck out to me.

"21 But you, O Lord my Lord,

   act on my behalf for your name’s sake;

   because your steadfast love is good, deliver me.

22 For I am poor and needy,

   and my heart is pierced within me.

23 I am gone like a shadow at evening;

   I am shaken off like a locust.

24 My knees are weak through fasting;

   my body has become gaunt."

That's what I love about scripture.  God uses it to speak to me even when it seems unrelated on the outside.  The people who are so focused on one meaning to scripture always befuddle me--because God speaks to me differently through scripture every day.

Today, I used this to pray for so many families whose hearts are breaking! Tomorrow I might use it for something else.  God works, even when I don't understand it.

What scripture is speaking to you today?

Blessings!
Pastor Emily