On worry and fried chicken

Lamentations 3: 19-24

I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall.  I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.  Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:  Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion therefore I will wait for him.” NIV

These verses speak to me.  I have walked a path similar to the one walked by the writer of Lamentations.

It does sadden me to think of all the time and energy that I wasted, worrying.

But, it didn’t eat me alive … God redeemed me.

And, His love and His grace are new every time I wake up.  He is faithful.

That last part, “The LORD is my portion,” is pretty powerful.

My mom grew up in a large family on a small farm with several brothers.  She tells a story of fried chicken.  My grandmother made amazing fried chicken.  Of course, the chickens were quite fresh … meal prep began by, well, stepping out the back door into the chicken coop.

When my grandmother would put the platter of chicken on the table for her brood, she would always say, “Now, no-one take the back.  The back is mine!  It’s my favorite.”

My mother was the baby.  The first time she fried a chicken, as I understand it, was after she was married.  She told me how after she had fried her first chicken and sat down to her own table, she took the back onto her own plate, expecting a delicious experience.  What she found was quite different.  The back of a chicken is indeed the poorest cut.

My grandmother had fooled her all of those years.  By making the poorest portion seem like a treat that she relished, she had guided her children to the best she could offer them.  My mom said she cried when she realized it.

My portion … the LORD is my portion.  Regardless of my circumstances, whether in times of plenty or in times of want, the LORD is my portion — the best cut, not the poorest.

The LORD is my portion, therefore I will wait for Him.

That’s what I’ll think about today.

It’s going to be all right

Lamentations 3:57

You came near when I called you, and you said, “Do not fear.” NIV

This is such a beautiful, beautiful verse.  The intimacy of the relationship between the writer and God is striking.

Throughout this project, I’ve seen a pattern clearly mapped out.  If we will call out to God in our times of trouble, if we will take our worries to Him and trust that He will solve them, we won’t have to struggle with them any longer.

He may not — in fact, in my case, He probably will not — resolve the issue in the way that I think is best.  But, I am not God — for very good reasons.

Times of trouble in our lives can serve to draw us closer to Him.  He wants that … He wants us to turn to Him as the first resort, not the last … to cry out so that He can come near and comfort us.  The Message translates the last phrase of this verse, “It’s going to be all right.”

It is.

That’s what I’ll think about today.