Do you ever have one-of-those days? Weeks? Months? Me, too.
On "one-of-those days," I backed out of my parking place and turned my car into drive when a familiar ping sounded. I smiled, anticipating my darling hubby’s message.
Thinking about you! Hope your day goes well. Take a minute and read Psalm 121 today.
I turned on my phone’s Bible app, settled back into my headrest, and let the word wash over me. He had to have known it would start the waterworks. And it did. Of course. Hello—I’m an enneagram 4. We’re wired that way.
I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;
From where shall my help come?
My help comes from the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD is your keeper;
The LORD is your shade on your right hand.
The sun will not smite you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
The LORD will protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in
From this time forth and forever.
Psalm 121 NASB
I had to smile with joy. A song bearing these words has been playing in my mind all summer. It’s also a Psalm that a beloved pastor and member of our church’s prayer team always started his sermons.
It reminds me that the LORD is my helper just from His very presence in my life.
I had to call my man and thank Him—you know—tons of blubbery husband/wife stuff. All was good.
I started driving again and the familiar ding again sounded.
Also, Genesis 6:4 might be appropriate today.
I pulled over, wiped the stress and migraine tears away, and eagerly anticipated the further encouragement. I can't believe my husband's amazing love. How did he find the mystery passage from Genesis? Wow. It must be good…and something I had totally missed in scripture before.
I eagerly tore into my app.
Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with compartments, and cover it inside and out with pitch.
Genesis 6:14
My eyes narrowed and I'm sure I scrunched up my face. What? I didn't get it.
Umm... I checked the text—and the passage again. I was totally perplexed. Must be a typo. Yep, a typo. That has to be it.
After a few hours, curiosity got the better of me. I initiated a second text.
“Steve, is the second passage the “ark” story?”
I waited for a reply indicated that he sent the wrong passage.
He replied as confidently as a text could. “Yep!”
I couldn't help but cock my head as I tried to figure out HOW IN THE WORLD this applied to me now.
What am I missing? How did he know to find encouragement in the ark story?
I started to rack my brain as I drove back to the house.
An ark? How is an ark encouraging? Hmm.... We just visited Ark Adventures this summer as a family. He read more of the signs than I did. I just went into rooms, squinted my eyes really tightly, and rocked back and forth pretending to be in the storm. Why "read" when you can "experience," right?
Oh, wait! I get it! God is my ark in a storm right now. Right? Maybe?!
Also, could it be the part about covering the ark in pitch on the outside and the inside? Is it that we are in Christ and Christ is in us? Must be! Wait…they covered it on the inside? I start to muse. They covered the inside of the ark with pitch? Really? How in the world did they walk in all of that goo to feed those animals?
After an hour of thinking, I couldn't wait any longer—and called him.
"What does it mean, Darling? Is it that Father is my ark, my safety in a storm right now? Is it that I am in Christ and He is in me—so I need not feel overwhelmed and afraid?"
Now I felt smart that I figured out something so esoteric and spiritual—but I should have realized pride cometh before the fall.
A conspicuous silence on the other end of the phone followed my question…and then abrupt laughter broke loose.
He struggled to get the words out for a minute.
Then I learned the truth.
"Umm...nope. It was a commentary on what was going on outside at the time."
Yep, it was raining. Hard. That was all. It was simply raining. This was his way to tell me. It would be way too boring to say, "It's raining hard here now." Nope--my hubby sends coded Bible verses.
So...that's all this post is really about. I had to share a sliver of my humor in the middle of a bumpy road. But isn't that how life is? We look for the moments where we get to experience joy and peace—and lots of laughter—smack dab in a stressful period of your life.
But...let me just say—to honor of all my hard sleuthing skills—I still hope you all allow Christ to be your ark today! After all, I went through ALL of the work of trying to milk out something from that passage as encouragement. Right?!?!
Back then, the ark was the hope for mankind just as our only hope is now Jesus Christ. He is in us and we are in Him.
I still rather think his tongue-in-cheek passage fits, don't you?
*****
Aleisha Cate
@GraceunLEISHed