by Ricky Doc Sauceda
Back home in Cut & Shoot, Texas there was a time in my life when the marriage of my parents fell apart. This was an event that would change my state of mind for a while. One day during the onset of this event I was heavy with sorrow and grief.
I was feeling so very miserable. I did not like feeling like that. I entered the area between the living room and the bedrooms of my parent's and me. There was an end table there with the family Bible placed upon it.
I prayed with all of my muster asking God to alleviate my misery. I then opened the family Bible and was led to read words that immediately impacted my my mind and spirit. I was instantly relieved of my troubles.
Sirach 2
1 My child, if you aspire to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for an ordeal.
2 Be sincere of heart, be steadfast, and do not be alarmed when disaster comes.
3 Cling to him and do not leave him, so that you may be honoured at the end of your days.
4 Whatever happens to you, accept it, and in the uncertainties of your humble state, be patient,
5 since gold is tested in the fire, and the chosen in the furnace of humiliation.
6 Trust him and he will uphold you, follow a straight path and hope in him.
7 You who fear the Lord, wait for his mercy; do not turn aside, for fear you fall.
8 You who fear the Lord, trust him, and you will not be robbed of your reward.
9 You who fear the Lord, hope for those good gifts of his, everlasting joy and mercy.
10 Look at the generations of old and see: whoever trusted in the Lord and was put to shame? Or whoever, steadfastly fearing him, was forsaken? Or whoever called to him and was ignored?
11 For the Lord is compassionate and merciful, he forgives sins and saves in the time of distress.
12 Woe to faint hearts and listless hands, and to the sinner who treads two paths.
13 Woe to the listless heart that has no faith, for such will have no protection.
14 Woe to you who have lost the strength to endure; what will you do at the Lord's visitation?
15 Those who fear the Lord do not disdain his words, and those who love him keep his ways.
16 Those who fear the Lord do their best to please him, and those who love him will find satisfaction in the Law.
17 Those who fear the Lord keep their hearts prepared and humble themselves in his presence.
18 Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, not into any human clutches; for as his majesty is, so too is his mercy.
Whenever you are feeling stressed or being challenged, relief is only a prayer and Bible reading away. We will focus on Him and not on us. Looking to Him we become less burdened, if not completely free.