Dust Moments - What She Said Part 14 - Week 7 Day 3

TODAY'S TREASURE

As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.

Psalm 103:13-14

Transcript

Dust Moments

Patsy Kuipers, Guest Writer

Today’s Treasure 

As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.

Psalm 103:13-14

My mood was as gray as the rainy day. I thought I got up on the right side of the bed, but a series of minor frustrations throughout the morning pushed me to the edge of tears more than once. I looked forward to stopping at Starbucks after an afternoon appointment. Maybe that would brighten my day. But, sadly, there would be no tea and pumpkin bread for me.

Nothing happened when I tried to start my car for that post-appointment drive – absolutely nothing. We do so many things without really having to think about them – starting a car is one of them. But when no humming of the engine resulted from my mindless procedure, I began to look at each component of the process. Finding nothing wrong with my method and noting the lights were working, indicating the problem most likely wasn’t a dead battery, I gave up and called the car dealer. A service advisor talked me through a few more attempts to start it, to no avail. I’d have to have it towed. 

As I awaited the arrival of the tow truck, I did my best to stave off a full-blown pity party. I exhorted myself with the truth: “It’s a car.” “It can be fixed or replaced.” “This isn’t what you planned, but you’re not in a hospital with a friend who’s undergoing her last-chance chemo treatment,” which is precisely where one of my dear sisters in Christ was at that very moment. 

The pseudo-calm I talked myself into was short-lived. As the tow truck driver loaded my car, he told me he’d already picked up five of the same make and model that day. In describing what was most likely wrong, he strongly suggested, “Get it fixed and sell it.” 

My thoughts churned. I liked my car A LOT, even though it was almost eight years old. It was sleek and fun to drive. I hoped he might have been overstating the situation, frustrated by so many calls for the same model. Sadly, some Googling that evening confirmed a defect so prevalent that one consumer group had been pressuring the car maker to issue a recall. So far, they’d only extended the warranty on the faulty part to six years, which did me no good. Furthermore, the repair was a pricey one. 

Still preaching truth to myself – “We’re not supposed to worry. Trust God for the details!”  – I went to bed praying I’d sleep through the night in spite of my troubled mind. Alas, I woke up around 3 AM and try as I might to pray myself back to sleep, I was still awake when my alarm went off at 6:30 AM. I listlessly drug my way through my morning routine, wondering how I’d ever have the energy to care for my three grandchildren all day. 

As I was preparing to walk out the door, my phone rang. My service advisor called to let me know my car was ready to go, repaired at no charge to me under a recently issued recall. As I thanked him and hung up, I dissolved into tears of gratitude – and remorse. Once again, I was praying,  but this time, asking God to forgive me for worrying and trying to piece together solutions in the wee hours of the morning. And just as quickly, I felt my Father’s embrace and His sweet assurance that He knows I’m dust. 

LIFE-GIVING ENCOURAGEMENT

Psalm 103 is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible. Verses 13 and 14 are especially dear to me: “As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers we are dust.”   Even though I’ve walked with the Lord for 50 years, there are times when I forget who I belong to. I still have anxious moments when I wring my hands, speak words I later regret, and behave in ways unbecoming a daughter of the King. I’ve come to refer to such episodes as my dust moments. 

My devotional reading the night of the car repair included these insights from James Packer:

“There is unspeakable comfort in knowing that God is constantly taking knowledge of me in love and watching over me for my good. There is tremendous relief in knowing that his love toward me is utterly realistic, based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst about me, so that no discovery now can disillusion him about me in the way I am so often disillusioned about myself, and quench his determination to bless me.” (2)

As two tumultuous days drew to a close, my compassionate Father wanted to ensure I got the message: “Don’t be so hard on yourself. I know you are dust, and I love you anyway. I always will.”

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, thank you for Your compassionate heart, full of steadfast love for your frail and finite children. Amen.

(2) James Packer, “Your Father Loves You”, March 8th, Harold Shaw Publishers, Wheaton, IL, 1986.