A Good Word Wednesday #8
Sept. 6, 2022 -- Welcome to September!
Good Words of the Day: Lament, Healing, Joy
How do you deal with loss, especially when it is unexpected?
Recently, our She Is Safe Indonesia ministry partner, lost her 13-year-old grandson in a tragic bike accident. Why was his life cut so short?
A week ago, a 54-year-old member of my church collapsed and she never regained consciousness, leaving her elderly mother all alone.
Yesterday, my husband’s 92-year-old aunt slipped peacefully in her sleep from this life to life in heaven . No, not unexpected, but still there is sadness for family and friends.
Sorry for the downer today. How are these sad words GOOD words?
Because God grieves too. Because he sees us, welcomes our questions, our pain, and sorrow. He wants us to lament and cry out to him for comfort.
Because, even as we pray for healing, sometimes he brings ultimate healing by bringing loved ones onward to heaven where there is never pain, sorrow and death again. We may never understand his timing, but we can trust him to know the future.
Because the darkness of night will end and joy comes in the morning!
Wednesday in the Word
Read ALL of Psalm 30 to express deep feelings, your lament, to God. Find in
verse 5: Weeping may tarry for the night,
but joy comes with the morning.This moving psalm ends with these worshipful words in
verse 12: O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!
Words I recommend
GOOD Quotes —
“God is good and God does good because good is who God is.” Unshakeable: 365 Devotions or Finding Unwavering Strength in God’s Word, Christine Caine
“God made this day. He wrote it and named it and has a purpose in it. Today, he is the maker and giver of all good things.” Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life (see below)
A GOOD Book - Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life, Tish Harrison Warren. Liturgy of the Ordinary on Amazon Have you ever had a holy moment while making up the bed? Or while sitting in traffic or brushing your teeth? Yeah, me neither. I just started reading this book, but already find it practical, encouraging and challenging.
What Good books or other good words do you recommend?
A GOOD Theme - Unmask that Beast! Who are human traffickers? What do they look like? I enjoyed writing content for The Red Cord this month. They raise awareness about slavery today in southwest Oklahoma. Read more: The Red Cord - Unmask that Beast! Read the September newsletter pdf- The Red Cord - Sept newsletter
A GOOD Blog - From the Stories for Global Good archives: Stories for Global Good - Going Places with my Daddy
You get a sneak peak — this story is in the first chapter of my upcoming (yet to be published) book: Unseen People: Sharing Light and Life with your Neighbors and the Nations. My Daddy had a way of seeing people who needed to be seen that others overlooked and taught me the value of developing that kind of vision.
A Final Word
In our church Bible reading plan, we’ve just begun the saga of Job. In the first chapter, he says,
The Lord gives and takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord! Job 1:2
Who would better know that than Job who was blessed and then all was taken away and then blessing from God flows again?
Finally, for your Wednesday, sing along with Christ Tomlin, "Blessed Be The Name"
Until next week… Share a Good Word with somebody today. Have a great Wednesday.
Grateful for you,
