A Smattering of Gratitude

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust (Psalm 91, NIV).

Right place, right time. Wrong place, wrong time. A lot of times when this happens people call it fate. As a follower of Jesus, I firmly believe it’s either His provision, or His protection.

I felt a strong sense of the Lord’s protection one evening last week when I was very close to being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

While chatting with a friend, one of the globes on the lights above my kitchen island somehow came loose, quickly fell, and shattered to pieces right in front of me! Glass was everywhere, except on me.

Thankfully, I had been sitting on the barstool to the right end of the island when the globe fell from the left side, just a few feet away. As I surveyed the mess, I knew the Lord protected me. Had the globe just above me fallen, or if I had been sitting on the other barstool, the outcome could have been much different.

I spent the rest of the evening sweeping, picking up shards of glass, vacuuming, and asking a neighbor for help removing the other globe so I didn’t end up with another mess on my hands.

Has there been a time in your life lately when you’ve experienced the Lord’s protection?

Psalm 91, verses 1 and 2, have carried me through many moments where, though I haven’t always felt protected from a worldly perspective, the Lord has been my shelter: Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

As grateful as I am to have walked away from my situation without any insult or injury, I know that is not always how life goes.

I see it in my job as a physical therapist daily. An accident at work, an injury from a car crash, or a simple household chore that ended with a broken bone because of a misstep. We cannot live in this world without expecting to experience suffering, injury, and hurt.

However, we can choose to lean into God’s grace, mercy, and love. We can trust that He is protecting us through whatever we are walking through. I will mark this moment in my memory as a reminder of God’s faithfulness. When we remember, with a smattering of gratitude, all that the Lord has done in our lives, we can move forward with a focus on His faithfulness.

#trust #christ #thenarrowpath #faith #psalm #provision #jesus #protection