He cares... for me.

This morning I was thinking about 
what it must have felt like to Hezekiah 
when he got sick 
and Isaiah came and told him to;
"put your house in order....
you are going to die."     

and Hezekiah wasn't ready to die...   
he 'reminded' God of his life of service to Him.... 
and he wept bitterly... 

and God answered and said,
"I have heard your prayers
and seen your tears;
I will add 15 years to your life......
AND I will deliver the city from Assyria"
ref Isaiah 38:1-6

I have often read this with a tinge of
'buck up Hezekiah'
and
my 'Christian' attitude.... life in heaven will be better than here
what's the big deal Hezekiah...?

Hmm....
First of all - Hezekiah didn't know what I know from the New Testament
about what Christ has in store for those who love him....

and secondly
I am reminded
that death of dreams and plans
DOES come with grief.

Yes I have promises of wonders to come....
but in this last month
after working through a small medical crisis
and losing partial function of my right hand...
and facing a future with the possibility of
loss of job
loss of some future plans
even some recreation/ministry ideas

I grieved.

of course
God is good
All the time....

But I am learning.....
grief is common...
it pushes against
transition
to what might be 'a new normal'

and I love how God responds to Hezekiah....
He saw his tears
and heard his prayer.

and changed the plan.

Lord,
I trust You with 'the plan'
but I sometimes I struggle
when changes come
to what I thought was 'the plan'

Thank You for Your grace
and care
for even my tears
and prayers
and dreams....

and even if you don't 'change'
the 'plan'.....

You are Good.
All the time.

Yeah.

PJ