Making Lemonade

Many months ago I wrote my first blog post as a guest writer on a friend's blog. As I haven't had a lot of time to write lately, I thought I would bring this one "out of the archives". This is one of those lessons that never gets old or outdated. 

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There’s an old proverb that says, “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade.”  Life has been handing me lots of lemons lately:  a trust betrayed, the breakup of a marriage, the upheaval of my life. And while I have been trying to make lemonade out of all these lemons, it’s coming out pretty sour.

It took me a long time to decide to leave my husband.  In the many months that preceded this decision I spent a lot of time worrying. It seemed like my mind was constantly spinning. I couldn’t sleep very well because I would wake up in the middle of the night and instantly my mind would start to churn. I would be driving to and from work and all the while my mind would be churning, churning. Do I go, do I stay? Even after I made the decision to leave, the worrying got worse.

 

As a Christian, we are taught not to worry, not only about tomorrow, but as a rule in general. We are to place our trust in God, casting our cares to Him. While this sounds easy enough in theory, in truth I wish someone would tell that to my churning mind.  

So I prayed. I prayed that God would take these cares from me and help me to make the right decisions. I prayed that God would stop this churning mind of mine and give me some peace. In the midst of all this turmoil God revealed a very simple solution.

I have this little book I read every night before I go to bed written by Sarah Young called, “Jesus Calling.” Throughout this book there is a theme that suggests that any time you want to feel the presence of Jesus, speak His name. I even wrote that on a post-it note and put it in the front inside cover of the book. And then I found this scripture: “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13 NLT) Could it really be that simple?  

One day on my way to work, as I found myself once again obsessing over things I couldn’t control, I spoke His name: “Emmanuel”. As an answer to a prayer, my mind went quiet.

In the Hebrew language Emmanuel literally means “God is with us”. I have found that by speaking His name in times of trouble it has become a way for me to stop my obsessive thoughts and put my focus where it should be, on God. This one word, spoken in a moment when God is not in the forefront of my thoughts, puts God first and gives me the sweet calming that I so desperately need. It is the sugar to sweeten my sour lemonade, an answer to a prayer, a miracle.

Throughout this difficult time I have traveled a path that I would have thought impossible only a few short months ago, and God has been there with me every step of the way. In the end I have learned that through the tough times the only thing I need to do is: breathe in and breathe out, put one foot in front of the other, and let God take care of the rest. God has answered many prayers for me and I have so much to be thankful for. These days I not only speak “Emmanuel” as a cry for help, but also as a word of thanksgiving. Thank you, Lord, for taking care of me.  

Lemonade anyone?

Out of the Deep

This past Sunday I had the privilege of singing a piece of John Rutter's "Requiem" with my church choir. The scripture that morning was the story of Lazarus' death and Jesus bringing him back to life. The part of the Requiem that we sang was John Rutter's interpretation of Psalm 130, "Out of the Deep."

This song is filled musically with all the longing that Psalm 130 verbalizes. It starts with a cello intro in a soulful melody and continues that theme throughout the piece. As the psalmist places his trust in the Lord, the music is lifted and hopeful. We were blessed to have one of the best young cellists in our area play for us and that brought the choir's "game" up another level.

The words to the song begin, "Out of the deep have I called unto you O Lord. Lord, hear my voice." How many times have I said that? And this got me thinking about how much my journey of faith has changed.

It used to be that I would only call to God for help when I was in distress. Having no where else to turn, from the depths of my despair I would cry out for help wanting instant relief from my misery. I wanted to get lifted out of the deep and have this crisis over.

One of the hardest things to do is to be thankful in times of trouble. When I am struggling with something or feeling hurt or deceived, the thanks I offer up to God leaves a bitter taste on my tongue. I literally struggle to physically speak the words. It is one of the hardest lesson I have learned over the years.

But why is it that we tend to think about God more when we are in distress than when we are joyful?

As people of faith, we are not just to look to God in times of distress but in times of happiness as well. As a parent, I love seeing my child happy and love hearing him thank me for the good times of his life. Why wouldn't God feel the same way? After all, we are the children of God.

I've said it before and I will probably say it again: in all things we need to be thankful. Good times and bad, joy and despair, hope and distress. In that way we keep God in the center of our lives, which makes even the really bad times seem not so bad.

Here's the Cambridge Singers, conducted by John Rutter himself, performing "Requiem II: Out of the Deep" by John Rutter: