The Upper Room Daily Devotional from Nashville, Tennessee, United States "SIMPLY THERE" for Tuesday, 17 May 2016 with Scripture Job 14:1-14

The Upper Room Daily Devotional from Nashville, Tennessee, United States "SIMPLY THERE" for Tuesday, 17 May 2016 with Scripture Job 14:1 “A human being, born from a woman,
lives a short, trouble-filled life.
2 He comes up like a flower and withers away,
flees like a shadow, doesn’t last.
3 You fix your eyes on a creature like this?
You drag him to court with you?
4 Who can bring what is pure from something impure?
No one!
5 Since his days are fixed in advance,
the number of his months is known to you,
and you have fixed the limits which he can’t cross;
6 look away from him, and let him be;
so that, like a hired worker,
he can finish his day in peace.
7 “For a tree, there is hope
that if cut down, it will sprout again,
that its shoots will continue to grow.
8 Even if its roots grow old in the earth
and its stump dies in the ground,
9 yet at the scent of water it will bud
and put forth branches like a young plant.
10 But when a human being grows weak and dies,
he expires; and then where is he?
11 Just as water in a lake disappears,
as a river shrinks and dries up;
12 so a person lies down and doesn’t arise —
until the sky no longer exists;
it will not awaken,
it won’t be roused from its sleep.
13 “I wish you would hide me in Sh’ol,
conceal me until your anger has passed,
then fix a time and remember me!
14 If a man dies, will he live again?
I will wait all the days of my life
for my change to come.
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A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.[Job 14:5 (NIV)]
My nephew is now healthy and energetic, but that has not always been the case. When he was born, the hospital staff quickly took him to the neonatal intensive care unit to resolve some complications that the doctor assured my brother and sister-in-law were minor. However, that did not stop our family from experiencing anxiety and doubt. I felt helpless and worried that my minutes-old nephew had reached his “determined days” before they had even begun.
I began to ask God how something like this could happen. I also asked my mom, an experienced nurse, and Dad — a pastor — if we could do anything to help. Mom said, “I cannot do much, but I am praying simply that God will be with him and the doctors.” Dad responded, with tears in his eyes, “Sometimes praying is all we can do.” I felt powerless and empty, but in that moment, I did not feel alone.
I think my initial loneliness that day was similar to the overwhelming fear and isolation Christians experience on Holy Saturday. The coming Resurrection offers hope, but future hope often does not change present grief. God was present in the time between Jesus’ death and resurrection, just as God continues to be with all of us during difficult days. Though the words of Job 14 haunt me, I can take refuge in God, who is always there.
The Author: Jonathan David Redding (Tennessee, USA)
Thought for the Day: When praying is all I can do, that is enough.

Prayer: Dear God, you are with us always. Help us live in a way that reflects your eternal presence. Amen.
Prayer focus: STAFF OF INTENSIVE CARE UNITS

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