Talking about "scarlet fever" in Bay County, MI in the 1930s and about Psalm 66

Two questions this morning:

1. How many of you have read through the whole book of Psalms in the Bible?
2. How many of you have been "body slammed" by circumstances in life? 
   

This morning at family restaurant on the westside of Lansing, four of us, met again to read through the Psalms one-by-one as a continuation of a men's Bible study.  Today, we tackled Psalm 66. 

Now let me add that I went into this with some preconceived ideas about the Psalms.  Typically, you hear them at a funeral, at a hospital bedside when someone is dying or at a wedding.  Our Psalm journey has shown me to relevant and hope-filled each one is.

However, I've struggled at times to keep them from becoming repetitive.  There's always an enemy waiting to crush you and then there's God who will see our need and respond to it.

This brings me to this morning when one of the guys told about his experience with scarlet fever while growing up in rural Bay County in the 1930s.  He got it and recovered.  His younger brother who was then four years-old got it and died.

He shared his dad's response to his brother's death.  The dad took the victory over tragedy and evil promised in the Psalms and made it come to life in a very real situation.  The power from the word of God has ricocheted through the decades as the son who was spared helped others deal with death. 

His sharing that story really helped me see God's presence on a really cold morning in mid-Michigan in a time where people are being hurt and hurt bad by a whole bunch of stuff.

That was a real "I-spy" where I saw God speak to me and remind me that he's here. 

Thanks.  I know I might have to use and hang onto that promise when I least expect.


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