Oct 15, 2025 – Right Hand
I, mostly, slept through the night last night, from around 11:00pm to just before 6:00am!! I woke briefly several times during the night, but was able to go back to sleep without getting up for the bathroom, pillow shuffling, or pain meds! After my eyes popped open for good and it was clear that I was awake for the day, I almost didn’t want to check the time because I didn’t want to realize that it was still the middle of the night. I had sort of a deja vu moment back to when my babies first slept through the night and to how freeing it was to think we had turned a corner to a new season.
If you think about it, we are perpetually turning corners and facing new seasons of life. Some seasons last longer than others (or seem to, I’m thinking diapers and car seats at the moment). The seasons can be both good and bad all at the same time, but our perspective really affects how we get through them. One thing I didn’t add to my last blog, when I was talking about where God has us, is something I remembered from years ago about a homebound woman having a prayer ministry. I don’t remember who it was or when I heard this, but it struck me how she was not angry about being in a place that she didn’t design for her life. She used it. And she was used by God in service to others because of her prayers. It makes me think of when I was on bed rest in this very room, laying on a different couch, looking out this same window for months while other people did the chores that I couldn’t tend to (one of them being taking care of my then four year old daughter) so that I could be part of God’s plan to safely bring two new lives into the world.
It really is something how rest affects our energy and outlook (I’m looking forward to seeing how the sleep apnea machine affects me when they finally get all of the insurance approvals in place). It has been weeks since I’ve picked up one of my devotion books, mainly because I didn’t really have the energy to juggle them one handed, but I’m strangely not bothered by that prospect this morning. I’m looking forward to hearing what they have to say today.
Since it has been a while and there may (hopefully) be new folks on this journey with me, I’ll go ahead and write out the whole book title rather than the shortcut titles I’ve been using. I still haven’t set up the intro section on the main page to describe how I got started with this blog and why I’m using the books I’m using and the abbreviations I have for each of them. So, let’s get to it:
Jesus Calling by Sarah Young (JC) – The first line of today’s devotion may not mean as much to anyone else, and it didn’t mean the same thing to me when I read it last year, but today it is so meaningful. “I give you My shield of victory, and My right hand sustains you.” Of course this refers to Christ’s victory through his “sacrificial crucifixion and [His] miraculous resurrection”, but today this also refers, for me, to my victory over pain and the healing that’s going on and His right hand (which is even mentioned two more times) helping me when I can’t use mine. I hope that’s not overreaching; but, as I said, it’s meaningful to me. “I use My mighty right hand not only to protect you but to tenderly lead you and help keep you going. Sometimes I even gather you in My arms and carry you close to My heart.” Two of the verses for today are Psalm 18:35 and Isaiah 40:11.
There’s an enthusiasm that is washing over me right now and I have to assume it’s because I’m following on the correct path in spending time with Him and getting back to this blog a little more regularly. Certainly, God asks us to do things that cause us to pause and have concerns, but it seems that it’s OK to be happy (or, rather, feeling joy) doing God’s work. I suppose people can also be happy doing things they shouldn’t be doing; however, I think there’s a catch in people’s spirits when they do, but I don’t have a catch in my spirit right now. I just can’t wait to get to the next book.
Streams In the Desert, by L.B. cowman (Streams) – The verse for this devotion is Psalm 51:17 talking about a broken spirit and a contrite heart that God does not despise. Cowman gives many examples of people in the Bible who had moments of being broken which led to their breakthrough or their saving or whatever it was that God was going to use in their lives. “And it was when Jesus allowed His precious body to be broken by thorns, nails, and a spear that His inner life was poured out like an ocean of crystal-clear water for thirsty sinners to drink and then live.”
Her last two paragraphs are so meaningful that I feel compelled to include them in their entirety. “It is not until a beautiful kernel of corn is buried and broken in the earth by DEATH that its inner heart sprouts, producing hundreds of other seeds or kernels. And so it has always been, down through the history of plants, people, and all of spiritual life–God uses BROKEN THINGS. Those who have been gripped by the power of the Holy Spirit and are used for God’s glory are those who have been broken in their finances, broken in their self-will, broken in their ambitions. broken in their lofty ideals, broken in their worldly reputation, broken in their desires, and often broken in their health. Yes. He uses those who are despised by the world and who seem totally hopeless and helpless just as Isaiah said, “The lame will carry off plunder (Isaiah 33:23).”
I really want to reach for the next book but it’s time to get ready to go to physical therapy. Maybe I do need another devotion to prepare me for the workout that is ahead of me. Haha
OK, one more. Jesus Calling by Sarah Young (JC) is the next one in the stack and her entries are fairly short so here we go. “Try to stay conscious of me as you go step by step through this day…. Many voices clamor for your attention, enticing you to go their way. A few steps away from your true path are pits of self pity and despair, plateaus of pride and self-will. If you take your eyes off Me and follow another’s way, you are in grave danger….The way to stay on the path of life is to keep your focus on Me.”
