God, My Deliverer (from Psalm 116: 1-9)
116 I love the Lord
because he has heard my prayer for mercy;[a]
2 for he listens to me whenever I call.
3 The ropes of death were wound around me
and the anguish of Sheol[b] came upon me;
I encountered distress and sorrow.
4 Then I called on the name of the Lord,
“Lord, please deliver me!”[c]
5 The Lord is gracious and righteous;
our God is compassionate;
6 the Lord watches over the innocent;[d]
I was brought low, and he delivered me.
7 Return to your resting place, my soul,
for the Lord treated you generously.
8 Indeed, you delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from crying,[e]
and my feet from stumbling.
9 I will walk in the Lord’s presence
in the lands of the living.
I sat there, wiped. The dog running around began to bark to my left and then to my right. My attention ping-ponged from phone, baby, dog, neighborhood, cat, and anything and everything. Then I heard my sister pleading. “Is she ok?!!!”
In horror, we saw her head under water.
I had checked out for God knows how long, as the three big girls jumped in the pool for several minutes.
I was tired after a six hour drive and chasing around the baby still… She had not been prepped and went into the pool without her life jacket. Immediately after asking, my sister jumped in and pulled her out.
I jumped up to help…
Moira still conscious.
Crying and moaning, she choked and spit up the water she had swallowed.
Fear choked us all and sorrow and worry pushed me down to my knees as I held her upside down then lay her on her side letting 18 year old lifeguard training kick in. She was coherent but exhausted. She said to me, I say “I want mama. I want mama.” Her eyes fluttering from exhaustion… life looking as if it was fleeting.
We took necessary precautions to get her checked out and she was fine and functioning after the rescue. She was her normal self days after and is totally fine.
I remember a couple of days later, I sat with my girls and I asked Moira if she felt God’s angel holding her up and maybe even God himself! He is able! Gathering the attention of all five kids I explained that having Moira alive today is truly a miracle. I explained that I don’t know how long she was underwater yet she is fine as if nothing happened. That is not always the case. Far too many are on the other side of the outcome we have.
A while back, when I taught first through third Sunday School, I often asked my kids as we looked looking at the person of Jesus… “Who is the only one who can do miracles?” They answered, “Only God.” Yes… again, I asked own children… the answer… only God. Jesus is God, I’d remind them!
God has delivered my child from death and secured us another day from such sorrow. I praise him… You and I have faced many sorrows. Live one day on this planet, you can find more than one thing that breaks your heart.
Action step: think of some “close calls” you have had this last year. Could it be that you have been delivered over and over again?
Prayer: God, you are faithful. God, I thank you for another miracle in my life and I praise you for sparing me from harm, danger, and death. Ultimately, I praise you for new life in Jesus Christ. I have received eternal life because of what Jesus did for me on the cross. Thank you for your great love that you gave your one and only son that whosoever believe in him will not perish but have eternal life.
*Parents: pray for each of your child by name that ______ would believe in Jesus that _____ may have eternal life. May _______ come to know you at an early age.
Abundant Mommyhood 