Daily Worship

Changed Lives

Norah Summers September 07, 2016 0 0

Psalm 116:1-11

Someone Saved from Death Praises God

1 I love the Lord, because he hears me;
    he listens to my prayers.
2 He listens to me
    every time I call to him.
3 The danger of death was all around me;
    the horrors of the grave closed in on me;
    I was filled with fear and anxiety.
4 Then I called to the Lord,
    “I beg you, Lord, save me!”

5 The Lord is merciful and good;
    our God is compassionate.
6 The Lord protects the helpless;
    when I was in danger, he saved me.
7 Be confident, my heart,
    because the Lord has been good to me.

8 The Lord saved me from death;
    he stopped my tears
    and kept me from defeat.
9 And so I walk in the presence of the Lord
    in the world of the living.
10 I kept on believing, even when I said,
    “I am completely crushed,”
11 even when I was afraid and said,
    “No one can be trusted.”

As the Paralympic Games approach,

I am thinking  of people overcoming personal physical loss,

facing completely changed lives,

or living lives that have always been different,

and using the opportunities of sport 

to overcome their disadvantages.

 

We can give thanks for their courage and determination, 

for their confidence and trust in their own abilities,

for the encouragement of their families and coaches.

 

These are people who have turned challenge into triumph,

and who really are heroes,

regardless of whether they come home with medals or not.

 

There are certainly no medals for the thousands of others

who have not found such means of making sense of their situation,

and whose lives are a daily struggle with loss –

 

loss of sight or hearing,

loss of a limb,

progressive diseases which eat away at abilities and functions.

 

For these, 

and for all who have no thought of heroics,

but just want to be ordinary,

we would ask your blessing today.

 

May we be part of your blessing.

 

Save us, Lord, 

from pitying or patronising,

 

let us instead be inspired.

 

Give us grace, Lord,

to accept the surprising ways 

in which you bless the mourners.