Daily Devotion for April, 30th 2009

God's Comforting Presence
Read Psalm 23
I will fear no evil, for thou art with me.
-Psalm 23:4 (KJV)
MY dear husband of 49 years lay in intensive care, helpless, surrounded by a tangle of tubes and machines. Just one week earlier after church he had come to me, put his arm around me, and said, "Come on, lover. Let's go home." Lover? Two ancients like us? But he was everything to me.
Now I could do nothing but hold his hand. I was filled with pain and the fear of being left alone. I couldn't pray; my despair was too great. To keep from panicking, I began to repeat the words of Psalm 23, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. . . . though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me." Over and over I said those words.
Later that day, after he had died, I walked into our home alone. As I did, a warm, gentle feeling embraced my shoulders like a soft blanket. God's presence surrounded me. As the psalmist said, "Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." I was assured that God would be with me through the pain and loneliness of my loss.
Now, six years later, I count my blessings often, and God's comforting presence is at the top of the list. Surely, "goodness and mercy" have followed me.
Joyce Woeste (Iowa, USA)

Precious Lord, we offer grateful thanks for your blessings here on earth and for your promise that we "will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever." Amen.

Thought for the Day
God's word is a comfort and a promise.