The Filling Station

I hope all of you had a great weekend.  Ours was a quiet one.  I had made a doctor’s appointment for my wife on Friday in order to check up on a few things since it had been about six months since her last visit with her GP.  She came away from the appointment with a good report.  At the end of the appointment the doctor commented that she was happy that Piper still has good muscle tone and strength.  She and a couple of the nurses told me that I was doing a great job with Piper’s care, and that made me feel good!  The next day we got the online results of her blood tests and everything was well within the normal ranges!  Praise the Lord!

It dawned on me this morning though, that all the prodding and poking during the examination and drawing of blood did take a toll on her as she had a couple of rough nights on Saturday and Sunday.  Yesterday was kind of a long day as I was up from 5:00 AM on attending to her needs.  I am thankful that after I let her sleep in, she was much calmer and content for the remainder of the day and awoke in good spirits today!

I am also thankful for scriptures like Colossians 3:15 that encourage us to “let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts… and be thankful.” (English Standard Version)  That verse helped me in the dark of the morning when negative events were at their peak!  It is too easy to immediately think the worst or even want to panic when someone you love is having a hard time… especially when you’re half awake and not fully alert to figure out and handle the situation. 

The Good News Bible tells us to “let the peace that comes from Christ control your thoughts.  And be thankful.”  It is at these emergency times when I am glad that I regularly take the time to hide the Word in my heart so that even though my mind may want to panic, my heart will quickly reel in the confusion, take control of the situation and allow Christ’s peace to settle me down and guide the quick decisions that need to be made!  I have discovered in most of these situations what Piper needs first and foremost is my calm and confident reassuring voice and the gentle touch of my hands… and His peace working in and through me is the ONLY thing that can meet that need!

It always tends to amaze me at how fast and well His peace works! Then once His peace is allowed to prevail, everything else just seems to fall into place.  Have you made that discovery in your life?  Have you found His peace to be the best guide in the decisions that you need to make?  Well, in order to find that peace at a moment’s notice, you have to be full of the Peacemaker… and you’ll find His residence in His Word!

Hummm… so we’re back to filling up with the Word again!  Funny how that works!  I would whole-heartedly suggest that you don’t ever find yourself with an empty tank when you need to go and do something for Him.  Make sure that you regularly stop at the filling station and saturate yourself with His love, His faithfulness, His wisdom and His peace!  Have a terrific week.  Stay in tune to His Word and keep asking yourself… “What or Whom am I expecting to FILL UP with today?”