
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Psalm 73:26
Peering into the great gray-mist The path, no longer seen Bad news & yearnings still persist Confusing the total scene Only a little track below Can faint be seen ahead The inward pain, the most brutal blow Feelings now fully bled The mangled heart and the flesh fail But God is His great strength The good portion that will prevail Upholding from beneath His closest friends avoid his cry The family does not fully know Unbelievers asking, "Why?" Veiled tears won't stop their flow He hears, "Hope in me, your Great God! Follow the little track. The path you walk will not be broad Yet I promise you'll never lack." He bravely walks the next few steps Not knowing where they'll lead The misted way shrouding objects Slowing the total speed And though he does not fully know He traverses to the bend His walk of faith does greatly show He follows Christ to the end
my inspiration
She found herself alone, isolated, looking into a great gray mist. Fold after fold, the hills lay before her, but always in impenetrable mists. She could see no path. Only a little track in the valley below. She felt quite alone. For a while she stood. Listening. Feeling an inward isolation and uncertainty harder to bear than any acute physical pain had ever been.
Softly, voices began to speak within her…
“Hope in Me, your God! For you shall yet praise Him, who gives the very blush of health to your face.”
“No, the path I’m forced to walk is hidden from God…”
“I know the ways that you must walk. All your ways are before me. As for Me, my way is perfect and I make your way perfect. The people never thirsted even when I led them through the desert. Will you faint, though I lead you through mist-clouded hills?”
When her inner struggle ceased, she looked again at the mist – and saw that a great light was growing in its very heart. At once, she knew that she was not alone, had never been alone. God was her refuge and strength, present with her, ready to help in times of trouble! (Psalm 46:1)
As she walked and sang, others whom she did not see because the mist lay heavy all about her, heard her singing.
And though she did not know it, she gave many comfort and helped them to follow in the path of His footsteps too – all the way to the end.
Amy Carmichael, Figure of the True, p.3.
my hero
My sweet Dad, John Kennedy, was diagnosed with ALS on July 19, 2022. He is braving the most devastating diagnosis that I could imagine. In prayer, he refers to this trial as “My great hurt” and I never want to forget this.
On Monday, February 6, 2023 (only seven months after my Dad’s diagnosis of ALS), the neurologist told us that my Dad could contact hospice – whenever he felt ready. I need the courage to trust – just like my Dad. He is the bravest man that I know.
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