Monday, May 16, 2011

All that Hath Life and Breath

In times of trial, Christians many times say that God never gives us more than we can handle.  But He does.  He gives us more than we could ever handle on our own.  Why else would we run to Him in times such as these?  My first daughter has a hymn with her name: Great is Thy Faithfulness and our newest daughter also has a hymn.  God amazes me with how well He knew her and her situation before we had any idea!  God kept steering me back to the hymn Praise to the Lord, the Almighty.  I kept pulling away from it, but He kept bringing it up again and again.  We sang it at multiple churches on multiple occasions and now, where we are, I can see how perfect it is for my little girl:

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise him, for he is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear,
Now to his temple draw near,
Join me in glad adoration.

Praise to the Lord, who o'er all things so wondrously reigneth,
Shelters thee under his wings, yea,
so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen
How thy desires e'er have been
Granted in what he ordaineth?

Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee!
Surely his goodness and mercy here daily attend thee;
Ponder anew
What the Almighty will do,
If with his love he befriend thee!

Praise to the Lord, who with marvelous wisdom hath made thee,
Decked thee with health, and with loving hand guided and stayed thee
.
How oft in grief
Hath not he brought thee relief,
Spreading his wings to o'ershade thee!


Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before him.
Let the Amen
Sound from his people again;
Gladly fore'er we adore him.

Could that not be more perfect for our little girl, struggling to breathe and spending weeks in the NICU?  I've printed out the words and hung them up in her room and they are a constant source of comfort to me.  Not just the words themselves, but the reminder that our loving, sovereign God worked out so many things to bring this hymn to my mind over and over again.  If He cares that much about her name and what hymn I picked to go with it, then surely He cares enough to watch over her and care for her.  Praise to the Lord!

2 comments:

AO said...

I wish that we were just down the road!! I'd come bearing meals and hugs. I can tell what an intense time this is for you! Eagerly reading your updates with hopes of good news.

Gretchen said...

Thank you for this beautiful post. What a trial you're all going through! Praying for you, and I hope your little one gets to come home soon!