JOY IN THE MIDST OF ROUGH WATERS

I’ve spent a fair bit of time in recent weeks doing funeral pre-planning for my parents. Making decisions about final disposition of the remains of people you have loved all your life is not any fun at all. It can be overwhelmingly sad.

After spending hours with a funeral director a few weeks back I was in the washroom of the funeral home washing my hands, feeling very sad and really uneasy about my father’s failing health and what must inevitably come.

At the same time though I had such a profound sense of being held by God, of not in any way being alone in the process. And I just began to weep and thank God for holding me, thanking Him for giving me such a sense of His presence in the midst of great sadness.

I would call that joy in the midst of rough waters. I think our joy is that we are indeed held, safe in God’s hands, shielded from so much harm.