A little handful of thorns ...

The stock market has tumbled from 14,000 (was that a year ago perhaps) to 8,000 today at one point, let’s see that’s 6,000 points or 43% -- I think the estimates are $3 trillion in portfolios erased.

The government 1st bailed out AIG with $75B and then passed a rescue plan of $700B, triggered by defaults on mortgage loans that were made on either values that were too high or to people that did not have the capacity to pay them back. Mark-to-market accounting exacerbates it all with mandatory write-downs, capital erosion, and credit crunch. The economy PLUS the anxiety of the upcoming presidential election, just 4 weeks from now, has created a nation of anxious souls. (In a nutshell the election story line of those opposed to each candidate seems to go something as follows: McCain - just another Bush and look where we are with Iraq, gas prices, and the economy versus Obama – a smooth-talking inexperienced extreme liberal [at best] and a closet terrorist [at worst]).

In the midst of all this, I have found great peace & delight in my time with the Lord each day studying a chapter of Proverbs – but then when I hear the news, my nerves get tight, right with the rest of the nation – “How bad will it be? How bad will it get? What will happen to jobs? etc. etc. etc.” What a great contrast of experience ~ Eyes on the Lord, peace. Eyes on the world, anxiety. In the midst of this contrast, I have felt a gift of a new and deeper challenge from the Lord to see that He alone is reliable, just like the Word has always said. His blessings are filled with the love of God, family & friends and they are eternal.

Here is today’s RBC Devotional and it has spoken to my heart in such a timely way ~ perhaps it will be of wonderful encouragement to you to during this time of national anxiety ... with Him, all is well!

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Psalm 105:1-6 (TNIV)
Give praise to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done.
Sing of him, sing his praises; tell of all his wonderful acts.
Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.
Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
you his servants, the descendants of Abraham, his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.

Give thanks to the LORD for His goodness,

and for His wonderful works to the children of men! —Psalm 107:21

Jeremy Taylor was a 17th-century English cleric who was severely persecuted for his faith. But though his house was plundered, his family left destitute, and his property confiscated, he continued to count the blessings he could not lose.

He wrote: “They have not taken away my merry countenance, my cheerful spirit, and a good conscience; they have still left me with the providence of God, and all His promises . . . my hopes of Heaven, and my charity to them, too, and still I sleep and digest, I eat and drink, I read and meditate. And he that hath so many causes of joy, and so great should never choose to sit down upon his little handful of thorns.”

Although we may not be afflicted with the grievous difficulties that Jeremy Taylor endured, all of us face trials and troubles. Are we grumbling? Or do we refuse to let our “little handful of thorns,” our troubles, obscure the overwhelming abundance of our blessings?

When we feel like complaining, let’s remember God’s faithfulness and “Give praise to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done” —Vernon Grounds

When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost;
Count your many blessings—name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done. —Oatman