Chapter 19. Rock solid

"Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

Let me hide myself in Thee;

Let the water and the blood

From Thy wounded side which flowed,  

Be of sin the double cure; 

Save from wrath and make me pure.

Nothing in my hand I bring, 

Simply to the cross I cling; 

Naked, come to Thee for dress; 

Helpless look to Thee for grace; 

Found, I to the fountain fly; 

wash me, Savior, or I die.”

– Augustus M. Toplaady, 1776

My dream car falls into the chasm but I cling tightly to the rock sides of the cliff. As a teenager, at a youth retreat, I had a vision/image of a meager me in the cleft of a ‘rock’ mountainside, like Elijah when he heard the still small voice. “Rock of ages, cleft for me, let me find myself in Thee,” a beloved tune of my Lutheran heritage, was the song in my head.

Rock, to me, is God and God’s words– solid, immoveable, trustworthy, cling-able. So God’s Word is my comfort in this tumultuous time.

Nov 26, 1997. I've been thinking lately and have journaled about the idea of: 

What do I do with my grief over me, my marriage, my spouse, things not turning out the way I thought, or thought I wanted? 

God, You are working overtime to get through to me that just because things aren't as I hoped or thought, it doesn't mean that it's BAD, in fact, ultimately, it will be BETTER (such as my life, my relationship with God, with Gregg.) 

Your thoughts and purposes are higher than mine (duh!) and will be accomplished! Many of the verses following I've thought on before, some memorized and meditated on, but I find I need to continually bring them to mind.    

       

* Isaiah 55:8-11 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than you ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.  For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth, and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it."

* Psalms 62:8 "Trust in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us."

* Hebrews 4:15-16 "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need."

* Ps 33:20-21 "Our soul waits (wait means 'to adhere to', like a child clinging to its mother's legs) for the Lord; He is our help and our shield.  For our heart rejoices in Him, because we trust in His holy name."   

Isaiah 30:15 "For thus the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said, 'In repentance and rest you shall be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength."