Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken.
–Psalm 55:22
“I’m surprised. God is not.”
–text from my friend T
By day the Lord directs His love, at night His song is with me–a prayer to the God of my life.
–Psalm 42:8
Valentine’s Day.
For God it’s not just one day.
He is sending us valentines continually…
through His Word…
through the words and deeds of others…
through extraordinary moments in the ordinary routine…
and through His presence in our prayers.
On Saturday, a person from my past communicated by mail…a pre-dawn airstrike…a missive-missile designed to steal my joy and rob me of my peace, to reestablish a toxic claim over me.
I was surprised. God was not.
I thought, “No problem. Been here before.”
I shredded the note and proclaimed, “Done. Move on, Shelbo.”
But my heart and my day had been subtly altered. There was a weight, a worry infusing every thought and task with a low-level hum of unease, helplessness, hopelessness…
Okay…
NOT done, apparently.
So, I launched my “pause and pray” array…
“Lord, please take the burden of this attack and the emotions attached to it. I can’t do it. Only You can. This can only happen through You. I need Your help!”
We don’t, and can’t, always get an immediate answer to prayer, but, all gratitude and praise to Him!, in the next instant He brought it. I felt a load lift off me and just…float away…
Followed by a flood of His love and peace and joy, rushing in to heal and restore…
A hug from heaven.
“Be Mine, Shelbo Valentine.
Be Mine!”
He didn’t stop there.
Sunday…Bible study…
2 Corinthians 3:17–
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
“Happy Valentine’s Day, Shelbo! You are FREE!”
Monday…a devotional text from T…
“…You will walk in me with power in the days ahead, my child…”
And here, at sunrise on this special day of celebrating love…
2 Corinthians 4:16-18–
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Light and momentary…
“Oh, Lord…Happy Valentine’s Day!
YES, I’ll be Your valentine!
I. love. You!!
You are the love of my life, You are the God of my life!
I am Yours…
Now and eternally!”