sustain

Did you read or see about the man who had been stranded in his boat off the coast of Carolina for about 67 days. He was finally rescued and is in pretty good health. His father said that he (the sailor) had a bible on the boat and he read it alot. The father said, "I think that is what sustained him." The father didn't say, "It was a miracle...or...God answered my prayers." He said, "That is what sustained him."

I have another friend who is the caretaker of her husband with Parkinson's disease. I wrote about their lovely Christmas in an earlier blog. Recently she wrote about feeling stuck in regard to having to make some difficult decisions about his care. She said in her prayers she feels a "great silence...am I not hearing something because I don't want to hear it?...Has God given up on me?"

And then last night Joe and I did a follow-up on"Grief and Hope," a workshop we had given last month. The stories and the sadness and the pain  and the questioning of "where is God in all of this?' were all there.

And so often in our recovery and relapse and recovery and relapse we say, "Where is God in all of this?" I remember so vividly in the worst times of my drinking, walking around the house at night praying, "What am I going to do about this?" (Of course the answer was right there--I just didn't want to hear it!)

What I have come to believe is that the answer in so many of these tragedies and sadnesses of life is that God is there to sustain us. We often don't hear the answer He is giving ----we don't remember the covenant He has promised---that He is with us---He is in this room with me. He gave strength to the sailor or keep fishing and hoping.  He gives strength to my friend to get up every morning and care for her husband. He gave me strength to reach out. That is the Easter answer.

Dear God, help me today to remember you are here with me. You promise to walk with me in all of this. Let me feel your Presence. Sustain me.

Blessings-Penny