Wow! God is Good!

It is funny sometimes, the things that make you consider all that God has done for you.  This past week was unique for me.  In over 30 years in the ministry, I have visited people in the hospital thousands of times.  I've stood in the ER with hundreds of my congregants, trying to find the right words to bring them comfort during those moments of pain and uncertainty.  But this week, for the first time in my adult life, it was me who was in the ER, not once, but twice.  I gained a whole new perspective on the process and it made me reflect on all that I have to be thankful for.  I am 50 years old, and other than a little high blood pressure and a sore shoulder from trying to be 20 again, I am in excellent health.  I've never had to deal with waiting for a doctor to tell me the results of a test that could be the beginning of a long and painful journey.  Now, before we go too far with this, my visits to the ER, while very painful, were nothing that ominous, but they did make me think about how fragile our health can be and how blessed I am to have enjoyed good health throughout my life.  I had a friend tell me a while back that from their distant perspective, I looked like a person who was used to getting what he wanted.  That kind of shocked me, but "after further review" I have to admit, that it is, for the most part, pretty true.  God has been very good to me.  I have enjoyed a blessed life.  He has given me the desires of my heart at almost every turn. And, after running my first 5k at 50, I was beginning to think that I was indestructible, so I guess God decided to put on the brakes for a little bit to remind me that I still need Him every day.
The end result has been to make me more thankful than ever for His protection and blessing up to this point in my life.  Whatever the future holds, I know that God is faithful and it will be for my best.  And that makes it a lot easier to deal with Monday morning.