Today I am in bed, nursing a terrible sore throat and taking my antibiotics for strep throat like a good patient!  I don’t feel good, I’m depressed and to top it all off…I’m missing my family!!  (I’ve been sequestered in the bedroom, since we don’t want anyone else to get sick)

The good news is that I will get better.  I will take the medication, get the rest I need and recover in just a few days.  However, I’ve been in situations where the future did not look so bright.

As most of you know my father-in-law died of pancreatic cancer in October 2010 after a 3-month battle and then my own father died of mesothelioma cancer in December 2010 after an 18-month battle.  The diseases were different, but the prognosis were the same – “You are not getting out of this illness alive.”

This was a very frightening time in our family’s life.  We were faced with questions, decisions and treatments.  We had no idea what we were doing and knew even less of what to ask.  We were also dealing with the emotional trauma of the imminent death of our fathers.

The most important thing I realized through this distressing experience was that NONE of US are getting out of this world alive.  We will all die and we will all have to account for the life we have led.

God-willing, I will feel better tomorrow and enjoy another day.  But what am I going to do with it?  Will I show others love?  Will I give a little more to those less fortunate?  Will I praise God regardless of what I think He should be doing?

These are questions I ask myself often since my dads passed away.

Basically, I grew up in the year of 2010.  I finally grasped that God is GOOD regardless of the human outcome.  I ultimately understood that I may be sad, mad, sick, worried and broke, BUT God is still GOD and He is to be praised.

“Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God….” Psalm 146:1-10

My father-in-law and dad knew that.  They both said constantly that they would win either way…living longer would have afforded them time with loved ones and death would give them eternal life with their heavenly father – amazing insight coming from two men who were hardly sick a day in their lives.

However, they got it!  They knew who was in charge!  They taught the rest of us how to handle the worst of situations by showing faith, courage and hope.  Most of all, they taught me how precious each and every day is.

I don’t know what you are going through today, but please know that God wants to be a part of whatever you are doing.  He wants to love you through every day of your life.  He wants to be your provider and protector.  He wants you to spend eternity with Him.

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

“He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:10-12

Do you place your trust in God?

Some Wisdom for Today:  Proverbs 17:22 – A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.