Musings at Altitude

I’ve been trying to ignore my 401(k) and follow through with my commitment to have confidence in the companies I have stock in and the overall future economic strength of the United States.  As I looked at the carnage of my retirement accounts this morning, my first thought was “oh my gosh”, and my second thought was “and yet I’m so blessed”. 

I’ve been thinking about the lesson I learned from my daughter this past Friday, and as I look at what I do have and the blessings that I have received, I can’t help but think about the times when we struggled, where we worried so much about having money to pay bills and being able to put food on our table, and when we didn’t know if we’d be able to make that next house payment.  Those times are still so fresh in my memory because they weren’t so long ago.

During times like those and times like these, I received great comfort through my faith.  In Psalm 19, David said:

The heavens declare the glory of God;

The skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech;

Night after night they display knowledge.

There is no speech or language

Where their voice is not heard.

Their voice goes out into all the earth,

Their words to the ends of this world.

As I think about the struggles that David went through before he became King and as I read the prayers and the praises he lifted up to God in the midst of all that adversity, I take great comfort in knowing that his prayers and praises back then are equally applicable today.  As I think about the persecution that folks are incurring around the world and as I think about the hunger, the disease, the war, and the poverty that engulfs much of humanity, I go back to this Psalm and find hope and strength.  Because the God of then is the God of now, and the comfort that He provided to David back then is comfort available to all of us now too.

When I’m in the depths of my deepest despairs because of finances or job problems or issues in life, none of it compairs in any way to the challenges faced by so many others in this country and in this world.  I have not felt the persecution that those of the wrong faith or wrong ethnicity are facing today and have faced throughout man’s existence.  When I wake up in the middle of the night worried about something, it does not in any way compare to those who wake up in fear of their lives or from the reality of total loss through environmental or economic destruction that has occurred.

I pray for those who are in the depths of despair right now, but what I learned from my daughter is that the prayers need to result in action.  Maybe that miracle that is needed by someone in despair is waiting for the committed actions of others of us who may in some way be impacted by these times but through our actions realize that even though impacted we are still so blessed.  In thinking about the lesson I learned, I’m reminded so clearly of the words found in James 2:14-17:

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?  Can such faith save him?  Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?  In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

I’ve spent lots of time praying, and now it’s time to have my faith and my prayers result in action.  And for that growing and now urgent desire to help others, I can thank my 14 year old.  She has set a great example for me now to follow.