Sometimes the week is a collective of hard things.  Things that, if I'm honest, I rail against.  I feel self-pity.  I have a dress rehearsal as the victim of "Life Most Unfair."  The title of my imaginary play is apt.  The client's son died a year ago at age four, and she misses him. "I sit in his room sometimes," she says.  "I remember him laughing. I still see him laughing."

Another day I bite down on a Skittle.  I never eat Skittles.  It is purple.  My tooth breaks.  My tongue keeps darting to the tooth's ragged edge, even with the bonding material the gentle dentist placed on it for a temporary repair before the crown can be affixed. I looked at that little sliver of white in my palm when I bit down hard and realized it wasn't the shell of the purple Skittle. Such a small thing to break.

Broken hearts.  Broken teeth.  Where does God fit into the cracked places?  Does he speak to us?

I do believe so.  There is no denying we live in a harsh, often shadowy world. And I can only speak from my experience, but even in this week with its sorrows and annoyances, I sensed God gave me a metaphor to encourage me.  I sensed he said, "You know bad things happen in this life.  But think of me like a powerful, glorious lion padding by your side. I am your protector.  I fight for you.  You can count on me to see you through.  I pad by your client too.  I'm helping her.  I'm comforting her."  And, surely, I could see in my imagination a golden-colored, muscled giant cat at my shoulder as I moved along my pathway.  I felt better and received God's consolation.

Then I read this in my Bible.  How I adore the Bible.  God speaks from this literature so very frequently.  He is the kindest person I know.  He is generous and wants to give to us.  There is always a gift from Him.  But I must receive--give up the pity party and stop my acting career in "Life Most Unfair."  This is what I read in Psalm 81:6-7 (The Message)

I hear this most gentle whisper from One

I never guessed would speak to me:

"I took the world off your shoulders.

Freed you from a life of hard labor.

You called to me in your pain,

I got you out of a bad place.

I answered you from where the thunder hides.

PS You might enjoy listening to this link while you read:Paul Cardall Time