Never Enough -- Sufficient

      Before I fell ill, I was doing it all: directing Vacation Bible School, leading a ladies' Bible study, singing in the choir, cooking, shopping, keeping a reasonably clean house, entertaining or going out to restaurants with friends, and loving every minute of it! I even had time to listen to friends' woes or send an encouraging text. But all of my "doing" never seemed enough-- there was always more to be done. Sound familiar?

      Then in the blink of an eye, the curtain dropped and the lights went out. It was literally as if someone pulled my plug out of the wall and my power source was gone: I couldn't even get myself to the bathroom, much less take a shower or brush my teeth. After several weeks of this turned into months with no reasonable explanation or relief, I began to ask God why He had put me into this hell on earth instead of just taking me to His bosom. While Bill managed to hold our life together, all I could do was sit in my recliner, weeping, and singing in my mind, "Oh Lord, You're Beautiful, Your face is all I seek...." (Keith Green).

       At the suggestion of a dear Christian friend, I began listening to instrumental praise songs and found they soothed my constant anxiety. On better days I was able to pick up my Bible and read a Psalm. Did you know the word "praise" appears in the Psalms 150 times, in the entire Bible 259 times, and the word "worship" 265 times! I learned that no matter how bad I felt, I could still find something to praise God for, whether it was the simple beauty of nature I could see outside my window or the birds' songs I could hear in the trees, even the capacity to feel pain. 

      A verse of a beautiful old hymn, "Dear Lord and Father of Mankind," expresses it well:

 "Drop thy still dews of quietness,

till all our strivings cease;

take from our souls the strain and stress,

and let our ordered lives confess

the beauty of Thy peace." 

      And slowly, slowly-- no one can really explain it-- I began to grow stronger. Sometimes praise is sufficient. 

      "Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7 CSB)

For further inspiration, here's a link to a wonderful message on Worship by Pastor Mike Whitson of First Baptist Church Indian Trail: https://subsplash.com/fbcit/watch/mi/+c6jbrsg
(I think you'll have to copy & paste; I can't seem to get the link to work directly.)