The Trouble

Psalm 77 In the day of trouble I seek the Lord...

Yesterday was a day of trouble. I wonder if we have any warning when our life is about to be changed. You would think that the earth would shift, just a little, under our feet.

Yesterday afternoon I was at my desk writing when I heard the crash that happened on the street right outside my house. It was so loud, like thunder, and it felt like the house shuddered. When I looked out my window I saw a tire, loose and rolling across the land behind my house.

Strange how so many things can happen at once in your head. Time slows and you can almost hear your heart beating. Adrenalin speeding up your body while it slows the thinking process to allow you to multi-task. I knew instantly from the sound of it and from the fact that the tire had been knocked completely off the vehicle that it must have been a horrific accident. And as I was running, a mental check list began to form in my head. Haley is at home, Ken is at the grocery store, Will is on his way to the house, the other kids are out of state. Thank goodness I am a nurse and can do CPR, but Lord please don't let it come to that. It's so cold outside today. Be near Lord Jesus. Oh my Lord it that two people laying in the street? Car parts everywhere and how did so many people get here so fast. Dogs barking, people shouting. WHERE is the ambulance?

In a moment your whole life can change. Everything comes down to this breath, this heartbeat. And suddenly all the priorities line up properly and we realize what really matters to us.

As I am standing over this kid laying in the street, wondering if he is going to continue to breathe on his own, I am faced with the knowledge that life really is such a fragile thing. Body's are easily broken. And in my mind the thought keeps running that this is someones son. This boy is the love of someones life. Heart's are easily broken as well.

In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord.

I don't know the condition of this man but I can still see his face. I pray that the Lord will be gracious and merciful to him and to his family and that he will recover from his injuries. I pray that all is well with his soul and that he is not in too much pain.

It is a cliche maybe, but life is short. One thing I have learned in my career as a nurse is that you better say what you need to NOW. Take the vacation now; lay up treasure in heaven now; be reconciled to God now because you never know when a day of trouble will come to you. I want to live until I die, don't you? And I want that life to count for Christ.