One manifestation of His grace in the early days was that so often, my regular Bible reading would speak straight to my heart. For instance, I have a little devotional book entitled Daily Light for the Daily Path. On September 2, the day after TM struck, here are the verses I read:
Psalm 27: 14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
Isa. 40: 28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. 29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
Isaiah 41: 10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
Isa. 25:44 For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.
James 1: 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
Hebrews 10: 35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. 36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
The day before my MRI, people kept asking me if I was claustrophobic. I had no idea – I had never been in a situation where I was. But I was told the MRI sometimes made people feel uncomfortable because they slide you into this close-fitting tube and you have to be very still. They said they could give me a sedative if I thought I would need it; but I would really rather avoid medicines, so I declined. That day, I read the following in the Daily Light, which blessed me especially because I had heard so much emphasis on being still in the MRI:
Ruth 3:18 Sit still, my daughter
Isaiah 7:4 Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted.
Psalm 46: 10 Be still, and know that I am God
John 11:40 Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?
Isaiah 30:15 In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength
Psalm 4:4 Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still
Psalm 37:7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him
Psalm 112:7-8 7 He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD. 8 His heart is established
When they did take me for the MRI the next day, when they first put me in the machine, I did feel kind of panicky, but the Lord brought these verses back to mind, and as I went over and over them, it was as if they just washed over my soul and quieted and calmed me.
I really appreciate these verses to help. I have been having spriitual problems, I need to control my thoughts. I am a christian and ashamed of the past. I know God forgives, but when I do do a bad thoughts sin, i have a while before I can break thru to feel his presence again. pray for me
One of the most helpful things I have ever heard about dealing with bad thoughts is to replace them with other thoughts. When I actively start thinking of a verse, a hymn, or start reading a book, or somehow get my mind engaged elsewhere, it helps: if I just try not to think about whatever it is, it’s hard to keep my mind away.
Enjoyed the verses.
Norman Dale Bridges