Waiting Room

Proverbs 15:30

      Have you ever had to wait in a hospital waiting room while someone you love is going through an operation? Those moments can be the longest moments on earth. You see the doctor walking down the hallway toward you, and you examine their face for the smallest hint that things went well. Are they walking the walk of defeat, hanging their head looking like they lost, or are they bouncing triumphantly, head held high, smile on their face?

      The words of this proverb have never rung so true in my life as they do today. When I recently saw the doctor’s face, relief gripped my heart. My heart was so filled, I leaked out of my eyes. A weight had been lifted. I felt it through my whole body.

      Have you ever had any of these ‘sitting on the edge of your seat’ moments? Life and death hanging in the balance, waiting for the news? Our military families live with this kind of moments for months at a time. They never know if the next knock on the door means someone is here to tell them their soldier has died, or that it is Girl Scout cookie time. No wonder being in the military takes a special kind of person and family. They have the hardest of all lifestyles. They never know what the moments will bring.

      I recently served as the judge in a legal matter. As soon as the verdict was read, the defendant stood silent, searching my face for what the verdict meant. When I smiled at him, you could see the relief flood his whole body. He had his life back!

      Of course our spouse and children know our looks, as we know their looks. We must be aware of our looks, and make sure that they reflect the presence of the LORD. If we are depressed, then get some help. Find a professional to talk to. If we need to repent, then repent. We are responsible for our witness, at home and in the world. We need to be able to bring the Good News from a vessel that has experienced His joy. Don’t fake it. Live it.

A Smile

Proverbs 15:13

      One of the best things you can do when you feel down is to have a good smile. And when you are feeling really great you need to let your face reflect it. The face connects our hearts with the outside world. What we do with our face affects how we feel. Even if we are down, we can raise our spirit by smiling. Try it! Smile!

      And a smile can raise the mood of those around us. When we see other people smiling, we feel better ourselves. Don’t you feel better walking into a room where everyone is smiling, even if you are feeling so happy? I am sure it feels better than walking into a room filled with angry looking people.

      Some of us have learned that we shouldn’t allow our emotions to show on the outside. In the past we learned it wasn’t safe to let other people know what we were feeling, and as a consequence, we hide our feelings, even our happy ones.

      Our proverb also says that when we heartbroken, it affects our spirit. When we are depressed our spiritual man just doesn’t ‘feel’ like connecting with anyone, let alone with God. A crushed spirit is one of the loneliest places anyone can be. Often the crushing comes as a result of a significant loss. And it makes perfect sense to not be dancing when such a loss occurs. When we lose someone or something important, it hurts deeply. It cuts to the very center of who we are as human beings.

      It is in these moments, when we are at our lowest, that we need someone to just come and be with us, saying nothing. Even if we don’t want anyone around, we need a silent partner in our suffering. We need to know we are not alone even if we feel alone.

      Notice that I said, “silent partner.” The last thing we need when we are crushed is someone giving us advice, someone talking when we need quiet. At points we will need to talk, so we need someone who will listen. But this is not an opportunity to let all the words out. Listen.

The Nine’s

Psalm 9, 39, 69, 99, 129

When God seems to be judging our enemies, it can produce relief. I hear the beginnings of relief in Psalm 9. In verse 3, the enemies turn back, a very good sign in battle. The psalmist says they are destroyed and their name has been removed from future history (v5). And then he says that even their memory has disappeared (v6). I think we could learn a good lesson from this. Sometimes we have to let the memory of the past just die. And I think worship and time in the LORD’s presence can help (vv8-10).

There is a time for keeping silent, and a time to speak (Psalm 39). We need to know when it is the right time to let it out (v2). If we don’t let it out, it can eat us up inside (v2b-3). And telling it to the LORD is the right thing to do. We need to remember how short this life is (v5). We need to not place our hopes in this life (v6), but in the LORD (v7).  Somehow he knows that his current distress is due to how own sin. He is not complaining about the discipline, but confesses and prays for reconciliation and relief.

The pictures that the writer paints in Psalm 69 accurately capture the feeling of someone overcome by life. We would call it depression. The feeling of being overwhelmed by life’s events (v1-2), of having no one who listens and helps (v3), and of feeling attacked by everyone (v4) and alone (vv8 & 11-12) are very common depression feelings. These feelings bubble up repeatedly in this psalm. He cries out to the LORD for salvation and protection (v29), for ultimately, it is the LORD who can reach him. He worships knowing that this is what the LORD really wants and it seems to renew his spirits.

In Psalm 99 the image of the earth being the footstool of the LORD is explored in a song of worship and remembrance. There are two different angles at which the writer sees this image: past and present. He looks back to a time when the LORD’s presence there was demonstrated with a physical display of the pillar of cloud and fire. People experienced His presence powerfully. There could be no doubt about His power and authority at that moment. Then the writer draws upon that image and calls his current generation, and our generation, to worship this Almighty God.

Psalm 129 captures the sentiment of a people in captivity. They have kept their spirits up by recognizing the LORD’s deliverance. They have hope in the middle of a situation that could bring despair, because they have the promise of God. Notice the repeat at the beginning of the psalm. It seems as though the worship leader would say verse one and then the congregation would join in. Worship is a corporate activity. It can be done in solitude, but when we worship with others there is a power that can be felt. Sometimes, often in fact, I need to feel my faith. How about you?