.. so utterly burdened...despairing of life itself??

so God, you know the One who is not surprised that around this last corner of my path there was a huge bump.. again.. so, He, the Creator and Sovereign God of the Universe, He, has me and the rest of my church family dwell on and meditate on this passage of scripture this week:


...For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.  Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.  He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.  You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.... ( 2 Corinthians 1 :  8-11 )

today when sharing the latest burden placed on my shoulders and my heart ( chest pain again, no surprises here either ) with my friend and mentor she pointed out the similarities...

as this potentially horrific situation unfolds I feel so utterly burdened beyond my strength... deep inside I am fighting not to despair of life itself... emotionally speaking it definitely feels like a death sentence...

realizing that whatever the outcome of this new/old situation in my life, all of it, every little detail will have been sifted through the loving fingers of my loving heavenly Father... He has delivered me from horrific situations before, so on Him do I set my hope to deliver me again.. relying on Him, and Him alone...

when posting that my day had been bad, many of my friends responded telling me they were praying... like Paul asked the Corinthians to do.. so that many will give thanks on behalf of the blessings granted to me through the prayers of those beloved friends...

reading my Bible as a little girl it fascinated me enough to read it many times.. today, it is the lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.. it never fails to meet me, wherever I am, in such a profound way.. no wonder, because this is a fact:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ( John 1: 1-3 )

my Jesus... the Word... not anything was made without Him.. He is the One we are meeting when we read the Word... loving this, no matter how this all will end.