Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Scripture:
Jeremiah 20:10-13
John 10:31-42
Reflection:
"In my distress, I called upon the Lord and He heard my voice." Psalm 18:7
Jim and I lived almost 500 miles from my parents when we were raising our kids. So when Dad seemed to be nearing the end of his life, we needed to figure out when to go home so we could see him before he died. I was afraid we might wait too long, so I began reading the Psalms each morning asking the Lord to show me when we needed to go home. I read each day until the word spoke to my heart. These are some of the verses:
Aug. 15th Psalm 32:8 "I will instruct you and show you the way you should walk; I will counsel you keeping my eye on you." With this verse where the Holy Spirit confirmed that He was going to guide me . . .
Aug. 17th Psalm 34:5 "I sought the Lord, and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears." I didn’t have to be afraid of getting there too late . . .
Aug. 20th Psalm 37:31 "The law of His God is in his heart and his steps do not falter." Still ok . . .
Aug. 25th Psalm 41:4 "The Lord will help him on his sickbed, he will take away all his ailment when he is ill." I don’t have to go yet . . .
August 27th Psalm 41:8 "A malignant disease fills his frame and now that he lies ill, he will not rise again."
I knew it was time to go home. The doctors hadn’t even diagnosed Dad’s cancer yet, but I knew God was telling me to go. We packed up the kids and headed home. We spent five days visiting Dad in the hospital and helping Mom. We got to see him before he died and he got to see his four grandkids and all the posters they made for him. He couldn’t talk by that time, but whenever we would lift up one of the kids for him to see, he would raise and lower his eyebrows and smile. It was such a precious time and I’m so grateful for it. Dad died a week later from pancreatic cancer. It still amazes me how specifically God can guide us with His Word and how perfect His timing is. Thank you Lord!!!
Janice Carleton and her husband Jim live in Portland, OR and partner with Passionist Fr. Cedric Pisegna in Fr. Cedric Ministries. Janice also leads women’s retreats. She is the mother of 4 grown children and grandmother of 6. Visit Janice’s website at http://www.jcarleton.com/ or email her at [email protected]