Frightened or Firm

He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire, he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. Psalm 40:2
Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2


Reading a book by Beth Moore, I fell in love with her description of two different types of relationship with God. In speaking of the Israelites she said, “Did they want a firm place to stand or an emergency room to visit?” Personally, I’ll take both.

My husband and I attend a church with a long and impressive sounding name. Our pastor, Sam, has affectionately nicknamed it “The Ship” for reasons that relate to Beth’s question. Sam told us this hilarious story of receiving a model of a hospital ship from his father, a doctor. He related his immense disappointment in the gift, as he would have much preferred a battleship. But, that day, as he told the story, he was thinking more in terms of healing and how desperately he wants to be a part of the healing process for those of us injured by life. This by the way is all of us, thus, the nickname The Ship. Sam would like our church to become something of hospital ship for those in need of spiritual healing. Of course there have to be some “doctors” there too or quite frankly the whole thing will sink in a less than glamorous, enormous, potentially dramatic way.

I do not personally know one single Christian who has never visited that emergency room. God will certainly always meet us there, in our moments of need when we cry to Him but if we stop there we miss so much. Having experienced the saving power, the healing love of Jesus Christ, we can move forward in trust and in hope. We can believe that there is a firm place on which to stand.

Our church, The Ship, is a starting place. Much like that emergency room, when you come into our church and many, many others, you get a lift, a boost, if you will. I can’t speak for any church but the one I attend, but there, I know that on any Sunday there is great music, solid Scripture based prayer, a message that more often than not, amuses, affirms and challenges and a community of believers who take turns being doctors and patients.

Back to the quote from Beth Moore, my personal relationship with God has certainly given me a firm place to stand. I can look at my life today and see so many places where my feet used to sink or at least slide a bit, where now they are firmly planted. Still, I like knowing that when the cruel winds blow and the hurts become too deep, I can run to that emergency room and God will meet me there. I love having a firm place to stand and from that place I can nurse a person who is hurting. At times I still need ER care and when I do, I want to know that I have brothers and sisters in Christ who will nurse me.

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