Sunday Afternoon Tea

"Each man will be like a shelter from the wind
and a shelter from the storm,
like streams of water in the desert and
the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land."
Isaiah 32:2

I made certain to watch Beth Moore teach on Life Today each Wednesday these past few weeks. She has been teaching a series from the above verses... how each of us can become a shelter for another person as we use our past hurts, disappointments, experiences to help another sojourner along the way in life.

I have mentioned this before but I've often had people tell me they wish they had the kind of deep faith I have in the One who created me and I think to myself that they would not. It is faith forged in the fire of trials and affliction where there were some days I felt life would never again be good. Those seasons of time when the circumstances seemed to swallow all hope of laughing again and no escape looked possible.

Then a day came when the pain lessened and the flowers once again brought a smile to my face... when good books were enjoyed and an old song came on the radio and I was humming along. The baby was not in the grave but I knew He was in Heaven... another much loved child was born. Jobs were lost, much longed for houses sold, the move to another town didn't work out so we had to move again, being misunderstood by family and friends, no money, deeper debt, illness, disease, questions unanswered... life not as I expected.

But throwing my arms around the One who never leaves me or forsakes me. Sometimes curling up on the edge of the sofa with my nose in the Psalms and pretending I was on the lap of the Eternal Father and surrounded by His arms as I read His Words and feel His comfort. Somehow the peace always arrives... at times softly and gently as if He knows I was too fragile for overwhelming feelings and at other times in a rush of emotion not unlike standing at the bottom of a waterfall.

The reality is one rarely lives a life free of suffering and the age in which we live is full of uncertain days. What Beth was sharing these past weeks is how each one of us can be a shelter in the storm for someone else. We've walked the path and survived where another has only begun to walk.... and not only survived but came through with our faith stronger than before.

One learns to appreciate what they have when they have felt the sting of loss. The person who has only recently lost is not there, yet. They need the one who has been there to come along side and shelter them with friendship, knowing it is not about them but to briefly share what they, too, have been through and then just to encourage... often times acting as that stream of water in the dessert offering hope.

The young wife is overwhelmed with new days of cooking and cleaning and working and getting used to living with that person she thought she knew (and one never really knows another until they are together each day)... knowing there can be a person she can come to for help and wisdom who will not gossip about her fears and frustrations.

How much easier it will be for her when there are women of faith who remember their own early years of marriage... and becoming a mentor to share recipes, and the best way to scrub soap scum from the tub, and the knowledge that one stays through the bad days to achieve the good.

We've all "been there and done that" in some aspect of life. No human has gone through all the possible trials or they would not be emotionally stable today. But you can look around and see the one who is suffering as you have suffered, invite them to tea or coffee, and listen. Eventually will come the time to advise and teach but anyone can sip tea, nibble a scone, and listen.

God never wastes your trial.