Group Therapy

Day 36

I can see the blessings of the Lord and His hand all over my life. I can see it in the morning when I wake up in a safe home, all the lights come on with the flip of a switch, the shower pours out hot water (well for about seven minutes anyway), and there is food to eat for breakfast and to pack for lunch. Creature comforts. I can see it in my safe drive to work, and my quiet mornings in front of my computer in an environment that is comfortable and familiar; a workplace that has allowed me a variety of forms of self-expression where I can flourish and grow. Security and satisfaction. I can see it in the evenings when I am home cooking dinner (a new skill I have acquired since I quit my second job), chatting with my roommate about important and not-so-important events of the day, scratching the dog behind the ear, and popping over to my mom’s house to borrow an egg. Simplicity and contentment. And I can see it in my every-other-Tuesday Bible study.

This week, my roommate was sick (but not contagious) and was unable to leave the house to meet at Starbucks like we usually do. In an offhanded way, she said, “we could have Bible study here….” You see, none of us want to miss it. It’s the highlight of every-other-week. Just a small group, getting together, chatting about our lives, reading a book, and turning to the Word for the answers to all of life’s mysteries. We pray together, and pray for one another. We laugh, we cry, we encourage. We catch up on family news, drink coffee (or tea), and anticipate the next event in each other’s lives. So, when she proposed that we have the meeting at our house, I was most willing to suggest it to the other girls, who were happy to change the location. Who could have foreseen it would be the best decision we could make? Opening up our home allowed for us to be more relaxed, freer in conversation, and louder. (And we didn’t have to pay a fortune for coffee just to sit there.) By the end of the evening, we had all agreed to the permanent location change. And just that easy, I began practicing something I’ve been preaching for a while now: opening up my home and having people come in. That looks like the hand of God to me.

There seemed to be one theme and one theme only as we sat around that table. At first, it didn’t come out. After all, there was good news to tell, common frustrations to laugh about, a whole month (half of us were out of town two weeks ago) of life to catch up on. But after the chit-chat had fizzled and the proper inquiries had been made, someone exposed their heart and the tears began to flow. It had been a rough month. And not just for me. (As it turns out, I’m not the only person on the face of the planet. This is news to me!) As we went around that table, everyone shared a heartache. And not some minor frustrations either-serious, deep pain. It was then that one of the girls reminded us of our last session. We had been reading the book Lies Women Believe and the section “God should fix my problems” had been the topic we discussed. We went through the scriptures listed and began to laughingly say, “I don’t like that one. I don’t want to hear that.” After all, who wants to apply Romans 5:3-5 (And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed) to their everyday lives. Or how about James 1:2-3 (My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.) And then there’s the verse that I was fascinated with a month ago but then totally forgot about: 2 Corinthians 4:17 “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” As I begin to dissect that, I am amazed again and again. I mean the word-play alone makes it a beautiful verse, contrasting “light affliction” with the “exceeding weight of glory” and “a moment” with that which is “eternal.” But also this idea that light affliction brings forth eternal glory. And not that our afflictions, our trials, our sufferings are light or to be made light of. They’re heavy. They grieve and pain us. No, our afflictions are only light by comparison to the “far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” Wow! That must be some glory we’re in for! Everyone around that table felt like we were due.

So, as we reread those verses, we all meditated more seriously on what was being said-what was really being said. We opened our ears and our hearts to the Word of God and prayed that as we sought God over the next two weeks, we would find ourselves on the upswing the next time we all sat around that table together. And I think, no-I know, that’s what the hand of God looks like. That’s what a blessed life looks like. Buying the truth and selling it not. Comforting one another with the comfort we’ve been comforted with. Finding a place of healing and rest, and a place of glory in tribulation. That’s the hand of God moving in my life, that’s the showers of blessings. Not just a happy moment or a shared laugh, but a shared grief and a fitting word. May my eyes always be so open to see the beauty of Jesus and His redemptive work in my life and the lives of those all around me.