From Everlasting to Everlasting

I've been memorizing Psalm 103.  I've gotten up to verse 12, and I am enjoying learning this particular passage of Psalms.  Psalm 103 is a hymn to God's love and compassion.  I have often reminded myself of the first 2 verses of this Psalm, specifically because it says to "forget not all his benefits." When I get discouraged, I try to remember the good things God has done for me. 

Little did I know when Pastor Mark called for the church to fast and pray for 40 days and to memorize scripture, that our family would face so many challenges.  Last Thursday--the day before the women's retreat--Brian received word that he was being laid off.  The company he works for has been struggling for over a year, and Brian had been retained to help finish up work and to close down some of the jobs that they had.  There just wasn't anything left for him to do, and the company was having trouble making payroll.  We knew it was coming, but this kind of thing is never fun.

Today, as I was reading Psalm 103, I was struck by verses 13-18:  "As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.  As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.  But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children--with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts."   If there was ever an incentive to obey God and to honor the covenant that we have with Him, here it is!  My days on this earth are like grass.  I am frail and made of dust, and when I am gone, the ground beneath me and the bed I've slept in will not remember me.  But, God's love for me is forever--from everlasting to everlasting--as long as I revere God.  His faithfulness (which is what God's righteousness refers to in the Psalms) will be with my children, and their children, if I keep his covenant and obey his precepts.  I definitely want my grandchildren to have God's faithfulness.  I definitely want God's love forever.  The temptation to be discouraged, or to worry, is great right now.  Even though God has always been good to us, and has carried us through lots of tough times, it is still tempting to want to control this situation, rather than wait on God.

Brian is making calls, and has two recruiters on the look-out for jobs.  I begin classes this week, and will attend substitute teacher training on the 22nd.  I am grateful that we've got money saved, and that the company gave Brian a severance.  I know that God's timing is perfect, and that he will send new opportunities both of our ways.  I suppose that if I were writing a screenplay or book I would set up just this sort of dilemma for my heroine to have to overcome.  The author and perfector of my faith has certainly given us the setting for what may prove to be an exciting story of faith.

Many blessings,

Jennifer