The entire Bible is inspirational to me, but some verses are more poignant now than ever in these difficult economic times. After being laid off three jobs running, with a year to two year spacing, it is challenging to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
There are two versus that truly stand out to me and they are:
John 14:1: Let not your heart be troubled.
James 4:8: Come near to God and He will come near to you.
I am 52, divorced and own a working ranch; although, there are times I am not sure they it truly works thanks mostly to the drought. My acres are parched. My 23 furry children are constantly thirsty and I am at a loss as to how to move two ancient Weeping Willows that have succumbed to the heat and fallen into a dry 10-feet cavern of hard soil. Normally, I am very independent and I do not cry or show emotions easily, and I can dig post holes, repair fencing, etc. I work two full time jobs; one is retail and the other in a non-profit where grants have been zeroed out of the Texas legislative session.
Both jobs barely cover expenses, which last year ran well over $28,000 in losses alone. Recently, there were issues in one job in which I was called a Jewish Pig and a lesbian, slut, adulteress, bisexual. Unfortunately, the insults did not nothing but bring me down and I wondered away from God, who really knows who I am. I am Messianic Jew. I am heterosexual, but what if I were a lesbian bisexual? That would not lessen my worth to God or as a person. I am truthful, honest and above all loyal. I forgot those things. My day job at the nonprofit will end at some point unless grants are more forthcoming.
In anguish, instead of opening my Torah or the Bible, I cried. I gut-bellied, heaving, wrenching cried. I prayed but didn’t hear myself through my own self-pity. I put out a prayer request to my fellow brethren in the singles group, now defunct, at Fellowship of The Woodlands. They answered. People who did not know me or probably vaguely remembered me from my attendance there 4 years ago responded. The best gift was the prayer and the verses. They, too, were in economic strife. They were looking for jobs, but they took time to send me the verses.
John 14:1 is critical to understanding what God has in mind for you. He knows your path, so don’t worry. God wants us to rejoice to him, not wallow in our woes. I forgot that. You cannot be a beacon in the darkness for someone who is lost if you do not shine with all your heart. Your heart has to be pure and happy, not troubled.
James 4:8: Once I started praying, I felt better. My mood was much improved. I have also come to realize that by my asking for God’s help and the prayers of my brethren that their focus of spirit was on serving God and others, their fellow man. God came to me when I went to God. However, I want to rephrase that as God never left me, as it was I who wandered away from God on a pity path.
My one instance of coming closer to God has resulted in my prayer request being sent throughout Houston and the Houston Metropolitan area. What a blessing to have so many people praying in one accord for one common denominator – deliverance from hurt and deliverance from economic failure.
These are my two new inspirational verses. I hope they will also touch you. I now have them written in front of my 2011 calendar. Shalom, my friends.