Pac man.....

Pac man.....

Sometimes I see others so consumed with anger, sorrow, regret, pain, shock, abandonment, control, despair, that I just want to hug it all away...they come in all forms, to all ages, all cultures, both men and women...there is no delineation, no boundaries...

from the wife whose husband is jailed for porn, the teenager on drugs, the husband who has lost his job, the parents whose little child has died,   death of a loved one, the elderly wandering in and out of reality.....and on and on...myself included .....

the picture that came to me in the night was Pac man, one of our first computer games on our first computer....gobbling up whatever he was gobbling... or another game was the mouse in the maze, trying and trying to get the cheese....forever going against walls...

The Pac man reminded me of something gobbling up the joy of life, one thing after another, taking it all until there was none left...the mouse was trying to get food....life without pain....

Two games which we all have the opportunity to take part in, in life...

I don't want my joy taken away...nor my painlessness...but in reality there are times joy is gobbled up and there is pain....

My favorite book in the Bible are the Psalms....again and again the writers bring their sorrow, anger, despair to God... And again and again, He brings their eyes to Him....he hasn't left or forsaken, He isn't asleep, nor has He forgotten them (or me)...He is there, maybe blurred by the tears, emotions we bring..and there is joy after the mourning...it may not be immediate like we desire, but in seeking it we learn more of Him...

There are times when our anger is turned toward God, thinking that He is the Pac man in our lives, gobbling up everything, joy, fun, us...He is not...He is there through the storms, holding us, sheltering us even when we don't see or feel Him...He is giving us freedom from the world,  even when we don't know it....He is loving us through it all....wanting us to furrow deeper and deeper into Him...

Thank YOU, Giver of joy and life...Shelter in the Storms...Comforter in life...

We are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;

Lamentations 3:22-24 NIV