Do you ever wonder what else can happen all around you?  It’s been a lot like that in my life circle the past month or so with more family and friends health issues than I ever thought possible in such a short period. One aunt died while two others are in hospice care, all within a week’s time. A loved one faces Parkinson’s Disease, another almost three years of chemotherapy to keep cancer in check. Others deal with cataract surgery, hepatitis, ostomy surgery, knee surgery, prostate cancer, prodigal children, financial pressures, breast cancer; the list seems to grow with each new day.

I went to bed early in hopes of catching up on some sleep but my mind just wouldn’t turn off. Different people and their cares kept running through my thoughts. I would pray for them and usually I can relax and fall asleep, but God had other plans – spend time with Him. Tonight, amidst all the concerns and cares that wouldn’t let my brain rest, I kept singing different songs, such as Jesus, Draw Me Close and I Stand in Awe of You. But it wasn’t until the words of this song came to mind, thank you God, that I felt the calm come over me as I prayed and rested in Him with all the cares and trials all around me:

I don’t know about tomorrow;
I just live from day to day.
I don’t borrow from its sunshine
For its skies may turn to grey.
I don’t worry o’er the future,
For I know what Jesus said.
And today I’ll walk beside Him,
For He knows what lies ahead.

Many things about tomorrow
I don’t seem to understand
But I know who holds tomorrow
And I know who holds my hand.

Every step is getting brighter
As the golden stairs I climb;
Every burden’s getting lighter,
Every cloud is silver-lined.
There the sun is always shining,
There no tear will dim the eye;
At the ending of the rainbow
Where the mountains touch the sky.

Many things about tomorrow
I don’t seem to understand
But I know who holds tomorrow
And I know who holds my hand.

I don’t know about tomorrow;
It may bring me poverty.
But the one who feeds the sparrow,
Is the one who stands by me.
And the path that is my portion
May be through the flame or flood;
But His presence goes before me
And I’m covered with His blood.

Many things about tomorrow
I don’t seem to understand
But I know who holds tomorrow
And I know who holds my hand.

As Rich and I were reading devotions before bed, we read these verses from Romans 5:3-5a and James 1:2-4

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment.

… when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

My response as Rich read these words was – “Enough with the endurance God. I don’t know what You have planned for us, but my character is stretched as far as it can go. I’ve got to be ‘perfect and complete’ after this past month.”  I was kiddingly, but I am having trouble some days “counting it all joy.”  There are times I don’t know how others get through each trial without knowing the hope that God holds us tightly in His grasp. Praying that you know the truth of God through the following blessing:

So abundantly blessed because God holds my hand – always! ~ Faye