God's Blessings In My Darkest Hour

Psalm 46:1 (KJV) "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."

God will give you strength and comfort, and He will wrap His loving arms around you as He walks beside you through your storms. I encourage you to praise him for his goodness even in the midst of those storms.

Praising God even in times of trouble is extremely important first and foremost because His Word  instructs us to do so. Secondly, when we choose to praise Him in our storms He blesses us. He will provide love, comfort, strength, and  all we need to make it through even the mightiest of storms. I know first hand that if you pay attention you will recognize that God blesses us in bad times just as He does in the good.

I am currently walking through the mightiest storm I've ever faced in my life, and the entire way I've seen God show up, and I've felt his presence as He provides me with the strength and comfort I so desperately need. I very recently lost my Daddy. He was my hero, a man I loved, appreciated, respected, and admired tremendously, and God has been with me every step of the way.

I talked to my Daddy on the phone on a regular basis. I would phone him for a chat, and he would also phone me for the same. These chats are now treasured memories that coincide with the precious memories made during the time I spent with him over the years. One evening Daddy phoned me like he had so many times before, but there was something different about this conversation, and the tone in his voice. His tone was serious and he told me he had been thinking about some things that he wanted to tell me. He wanted to discuss events, occasions, and memories that we had shared throughout my life. We discussed things we had never discussed before, and I knew then that he wanted to have this conversation because he was ill. I attempted to joke with him, and told him he didn't have to talk about anything he didn't want to because he was going to live to be at least a hundred years old. His response was that he felt he needed to talk about these things, and that he wanted to do so while he had the opportunity. I listened intently with a lump in my throat the size of a softball and tears rolling down my cheeks. We had a long, in depth conversation. It was priceless. I shared this story to point out that God afforded us the opportunity to have that conversation. I recognize it as the great blessing from God it was, and I praise and thank Him for it.

I caught a cold, and couldn't visit Daddy the week prior to his going into the hospital, but I recovered from that cold quicker than any cold I've ever had. With my cold gone I was able to spend  the following week with him. We sat in his living room all day Monday and Tuesday talking and watching television together, and I truly treasure those hours of uninterrupted Daddy time. I was able to visit him in the hospital that Wednesday and Thursday, and be with him at his home Friday through Monday which was the day the Lord called him home. God cured my cold with a quickness affording me this opportunity, and I recognize it as another blessing rained down on me in the midst of my storm.


 Daddy was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday, and was discharged on Friday.  From that point forward I had one friend, who rarely left my side, other friends and family volunteering to do anything I needed or wanted them to do. God bless them all. We were given the option of sending Daddy to a hospice facility or taking him home and having hospice come out. My siblings and I chose the latter. We placed a hospital bed in his living room and opened the blinds so he had a view of his front yard, because he loved the outdoors. Daddy had many visitors that Friday evening, and all day and night on Saturday. Sunday morning we were advised by hospice that he didn't have much time left here on earth, and so from that point forward my siblings, my Daddy's siblings, our cousins, friends, and other family members remained with him. I was able to reunite and once again grow close to family members and friends that had over the years drifted away. It was over the course of these few days that I saw what an impact my Daddy had on so many people, how he had touched so many lives, and how much he loved and was loved in return. My siblings and I gathered around my Daddy's bed in the early evening on Monday, and we told him how much we appreciated him, respected him, loved him, and what a great Daddy he had been to each of us, and within moments God called him home. Over the space of those few days God provided time for those who loved Daddy to spend precious moments with him. God showed every individual present what unconditional love truly looks like by working through Daddy and the multitude of visitors who came by to express sympathy, and to say how much he meant to them. God afforded my siblings and I priceless moments with our Daddy in his final days, He demonstrated for us what it meant to love one another unconditionally, to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, and gave us a visual that confirmed our Daddy obeyed that commandment. God blessed us with this lesson in the eye of the worst storm any of us had ever faced.

We had an appointment at the funeral home the next morning to make arrangements for Daddy, and my siblings and I were accompanied by four of his sisters, our cousin Gail, and a man Daddy thought of as a brother. My siblings and I agreed on everything with ease because we knew our Daddy well, but there were a couple of things that we did not agree with his 2nd wife of only three years about. She is not our mother. Daddy had no children with this woman. Wanting no discord, I interrupted that meeting, and ask everyone to join hands so I could pray. I told God He knew my Daddy, and that he was a peaceful man. I ask God to intervene on the decision making and lead us all to a peaceful compromise allowing us to continue making the difficult decisions that were before us. God showed up and blessed us with the strength, comfort, and peace needed to carry out the planning of our Daddy's funeral service, and we did so without incident. Yet another praise in our storm.

Finally, during the viewing held for my father, I saw so much love, support, comfort, and unity among family and friends that it was overwhelming. Without hesitation a great friend, at my request, sat with me as I watched the tribute to my Daddy made up of photographs that were put to music. I wanted to watch it, but it wasn't something I felt I could do alone. She was there for me at a moment when I needed her and I'm so very grateful for that. God's timing is perfect, and may He bless her. I looked up at one point and was shocked to see a friend  from my elementary school years standing in the hallway; a friend I love dearly. I had not seen her in years, and when I saw her standing there it truly meant a great deal to me. She affirmed to me how much she loved our family, and I responded by telling her that I felt the same way about hers. After all these years, she once again referred to us as "buds." Her being there touched and warmed my heart. Yet another blessing from God in the midst of a storm.

I was standing alone at the grave side, when I felt an arm go around me in comfort and I was so very grateful.  I looked to my right and saw another long time friend who I also love dearly. She showed up and stood by me literally when I needed her most. Thank you God for putting her right there at that exact moment. I was reunited with family members, friends I had grown up with, friends I had worked with, and I saw numerous smiles on the faces of those people as they shared their memories of my precious Daddy. I witnessed God blessing me and my family in many ways, and He did so repeatedly in our darkest hour.

I encourage you to pay attention as you walk through the storms you're faced with in life. You don't have to look hard to see God's blessings, or feel His strength, comfort, and loving arms around you in times of trouble, you just have to pay attention. He's there blessing you, giving you strength and comfort, and wrapping His loving arms around you. I urge you to praise and thank God for all He does for you, and to remember that He is working for you, and blessing you even in your darkest hour.

If you have a prayer request and would like me to pray for you, leave me a message and I will be more than happy to do so. May God bless you.