Written Just for Me

Every day we encounter written information or warnings and we ignore them, assuming that it doesn't apply to us.  During the years I worked in the hospital, I encountered many a well-meaning friend or family member who assumed that the "No Visitors" sign on the door couldn't possibly include them.  Our office has signs posted reminding patients and family members to turn off their cell phones once they head into the exam room areas--but every day I encounter patients who ignore this request and will even keep talking on their phones when we enter the room to speak with them or provide care.  And, even though we like to laugh at the need for warnings on take-out coffee cups that the beverage it contains is, indeed, quite hot--people still arrive at the ER with burns on their legs due to placing the cup between their legs while driving.  Yep--we are a society willing to ignore just about any warning we encounter.  It seems we must learn every lesson the hard way!

This is a problem I have struggled with at times, in reading my Bible and experiencing what it means for me in the 21st century.  Sure--those words of warning, encouragement, and direction were appropriate for the B.C. era and the First and Second centuries--but, how do they apply to me?  Today.  In my fast-paced, technology-infused, and ego-driven society.  

Here is a beautiful promise from God:

  "Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

and He saved them from their distress.

He sent out His word and healed them;

He rescued them from the grave. 

Let them give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love

and His wonderful deeds for mankind."

Psalm 107:19-21 NIV

I'm learning the value of taking something from God's word and re-writing it with my own name in it.  At first blush, it may seem like theology mixed with a healthy dose of psycho-babble; that's certainly the presumption I made before trying it out for the first time!  My experience was anything but trite and shallow.

Sandi cried to the Lord in her trouble,

and He saved her from her distress.

He sent out His word and healed Sandi;

He rescued her from the grave.

Let Sandi give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love

and His wonderful deeds for her and for all mankind.

It's truly powerful stuff!  As I reconsider this passage from Scripture, it strikes me that God promises to save me in my distress and then, immediately after that, says He sent His word and healed me.  Too often I interpret "save me in my distress" as "remove me from this bad situation" or "make this bad thing stop".  But, that is not what He promises!  He promises to save me and to heal me and to rescue me from the grave.  The bad stuff is still going to happen--but it doesn't own me; it doesn't define me; it doesn't predestine me.  God is my Master, my Savior, and my Companion in all things and across all time.  He has paid my debt; He is transforming my heart; He is making me fit for a home in Heaven.  That is what it means to be rescued from the grave--from the eternal death my sin has earned--and given the eternal life He has redeemed me for.