I Took a Fall

I took a fall.
I broke my knee.
I cried aloud
“How can this be?”

It was vacation.
T’was time for fun.
But now I sit here.
The deed is done.

What should I do now?
Four walls I see.
“Poor me.” I blubber,
“Poor me, Poor me.”

This silly poem came to me this week as I was sitting in my warm welcoming living room. The fire was burning in the stove. My darling was cleaning the house and I’d had a nice shower and breakfast and was feeling blue.

Poor me pity parties are powerless. They do no good. And more important than that, they are lies. I am not poor. I’m blessed beyond belief. Stuff happens to all of us - stuff that God doesn’t necessarily plan or cause. Stuff that puts our normal lives on hold sometimes causes us to wonder if God is there, or if He loves us. Sometimes, like with me, it’s only a broken bone that’s going to take a long time to heal. Sometimes it’s a broken heart that we feel may never heal. Sometimes it’s a bad situation that we believe is permanent – that we can find no way out of or an illness for which there is no cure. This last kind of stuff is what courage is made from. It’s the stuff that causes us to depend on the only one who can make beauty out of it all.

God’s love is so powerful. The knowledge that He is there for us, is walking the road with us, and is lifting us up when we can’t hold ourselves, is what gives us the strength to go on – to move beyond ourselves. God’s love is so obvious to me today. He shows it to me in words from his Bible, in words from wonderful Christian authors, in gifts of food, flowers, and videos from friends, in visits and phone calls and cards. God warms me when my darling husband humbles himself to treat my wound and exercise my worthless muscles. God hugs me when Ron hugs me - when God’s people hug me.

I read recently, that sometimes trouble is an opportunity, something God has trusted us with to use for his glory. I can’t use anything for his glory if I’m stuck in my pity party. So what’s the answer? Try to look outside of the party. When you’re given the opportunity to use the happenings of your life to glorify God, attempt to look at God’s hand outside of the happening. You may see God's face in a beautiful sunrise, a phone call from a friend, a warm hearth, or a helping hand. Each one of these is a gift from God. Will you give him the glory?

James 1:17 says;
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.