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Well, we made it through the weekend, through my Mom’s memorial service, through the reception, and through the Labor Day weekend!  As my wife and I were driving to the coast yesterday, I commented that the new school year was about to start in earnest for all the kids.  Summer is but a recent memory, and once Labor Day is written off, all thoughts begin to focus on school events, the Holiday season and then the beginning of another calendar year.

As we drove through the town of Sebastopol, the tiny hamlet of Bodega and then around the harbor area of Bodega Bay, I noticed all the couples, young, old and in between, as they walked, talked, laughed and smiled together in the late afternoon sun.  My heart began to ache as I glanced over at my wife and thought of all the fun times we have had over the years since high school.  She had kind of a hard time getting into the car as we had embarked upon our adventure to the coast, and was sitting quietly beside me.

There are times in this walk of faith when it would be easy to let the natural circumstances that are visible before you to have dominion and allow oneself to slide right into the realm of defeat and dwell on the thoughts of life without the one you love.  Yesterday was one of those times for me.

Now I understand that I have just been through a tremendously tough time with the sudden passing of my Mom, our recent scare with my wife’s visit to the emergency room last week, and three years of dealing with the attack on my wife’s health.  But does that really give me the right to suddenly abandon the One whom I have determined to trust through this current journey in the continuing saga of my wife and I?

All these thoughts came flooding into my mind this morning as I opened my Bible and read the words of the Psalmist in Psalms 34:8 where it says: “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the one who trusts in Him.”  (NKJV)  Strong’s defines the word “taste” as to experience, or to perceive the flavor of and the word “See” as to inspect, to learn, or to find out.  It would therefore seem that if I gave up in a moment of emotional weakness that I would be halting any hope that I might have of experiencing or tasting the flavor of God’s answer to my cry for help.

The final nail in the coffin of my doubt attack was inserted when I dug a little deeper into the original intent of the author’s use of the term “good.”  In the Hebrew context it includes the thought of something that is pleasant, agreeable, valuable in estimation and then the idea that really set me straight… it can be described as something that is better in comparison.

Giving in to the effects of sickness and disease is definitely not something that I would consider pleasant, nor would it be something that I feel anyone in their right mind would agree with!  Going with the solid, unmovable, unshakable, never ending truth of God’s Word on the matter of sickness (see:  Exodus 15:26, Exodus 23:25-26, Psalm 91:16, John 10:10, Acts 10:38, Romans 8:2, and 1Peter 2:24 for starters…) is the best option available when everything and everyone else gives you no hope of a bright future.

So if you’re having one of those doubt attacks like I experienced yesterday, I would whole-heartedly suggest that you make a beeline back to the Word of GOOD EXPECTATIONS, the Word that will give you a positive expectation for a prosperous and bright tomorrow.  As far as I can see, it not only is the best option available… it is the ONLY option!  Have a great week as we wrap up summer and look forward to the changing winds of the Fall season ahead.  Stay in tune to His Word and keep asking yourself… “What GOOD THINGS am I expecting today?”