The Best of Times

We were sitting around the dining room table at the farm this past weekend when my wife asked this question of us. "What was your favorite moment from this past (family reunion) weekend?"

"Interesting question," I thought to myself. There were so many moments from which to chose for my answer to that question. Playing disc golf with the boys, conversations with relatives, car bingo. But the best of times this past weekend for me was the time I spent with my niece.

There were two moments really. The first came when the entire family was sitting around the dining room table (we spend a lot of time there. LOL!) at breakfast on Saturday. We were talking and my niece was telling us how she was going to be losing her job. Certainly the worst of times for her.

She had worked for her employer for 12 years and loved everyone and loved working there but the office was closing and she would have to be looking for a new job. Naturally she was nervous and apprehensive about the coming changes.

Eventually everyone got up and left the table to other things and I was left there with my niece. Just the two of us. So we talked and I dug a little deeper into how she was feeling. It's a tough thing when we big changes come into our otherwise comfortable lives. That was a good conversation.

The following day we were getting ready to go to a nearby lake. I went upstairs to get my shoes and notice my niece in the kid's room, cleaning up. I started back down the stairs but then stopped after a few steps and came back up and asked, "Can I pray for you?"

"Sure."

Praying for someone is always the best of times, even during the worst of times. Why? Because we can't get someone a new job, we can't change things when someone dies or is very sick. But God can! I loved praying with and for my niece. Not because I can do anything, but because I know that God can!

"Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete." - John 16:24

When any of us go though the worst of times why not reach out to God? He has the power to change weakness into strength and sorrow into joy. Taking someone you love to God in prayer certainly qualifies as "the best of times" in my book. Seek God first in times of trouble. Minimize the times of sorrow and weakness. Turn the worst of times into the best.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." - Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

What The Lord Has Done In Me - Hillsong