Thoughts for the Day

I will extol you, my God and my King,
and bless your name for ever and ever.

Every day I will bless you,
and praise your name for ever and ever....

The Lord is gracious and merciful
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

The Lord is good to all,
and his compassion is over all that he has made.

All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,
and all your faithful shall bless you....

The Lord is faithful in all his words,
and gracious in all his deeds.

The Lord upholds all who are falling,
and raises up all who are bowed down.

(New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

When I was about 12 years old I used to love to climb trees with my brother and sister, and for a while we lived in the downstairs of a large house with acres of ground backing onto some Army land. It was our habit to climb a particular tree at one end of an old tin shed, then walk along its roof (which had more holes than roof), and the first one to reach the second tree at the other end, would then climb it, before pelting the others with fir cones. Inevitably all of us fell out of these trees. One day I remember sliding down the tin roof and thinking "This is it, I'm going to fall through the hole in the roof and land in the pig swill that was being cooked on an old boiler below." To this day I don't know how I missed the hole, but I somehow slid down the roof and off into space, to find myself landing in a pile of straw that the farmer had put just at that point. God must definitely have been upholding me, literally, on that day!

Today, we may not be likely to fall out of a tree or off a roof, but nevertheless many of us feel as though we are in need of being upheld by God. Psalm 145 is one of two psalms marked as personal psalms of David - perhaps his favourites! It reminds us that God is already upholding us. He is supporting us when we feel unbearably alone; when fear threatens to overwhelm us; when the family are getting on our nerves; when we have to work but wish to isolate ourselves; when we wish desperately to work but cannot; or when we see our income dwindling and do not know where to turn.

The Lord is with us in this new world of ours, and He promises to keep lifting us up and catching us, whatever happens.

Monday 11th May, follow up thoughts

Heavenly Father,
when life is difficult and we are struggling,
help us to remember that you are there
in every situation
to lift us up or catch us when we fall.
Amen