Falling Down

When I was in the United Kingdom recently visiting family, one of the places my son and I visited was Tower Bridge in London.  Because of the architecture of this walking bridge I am guessing this is where the song "London Bridges Falling Down" originated.  You can see pictures of this bridge below. The first picture shows me in the picture with the bridge in the distance.  The second picture is on the bridge itself.

Especially from a distance it does appear as if the bridge is falling down.  If you look closely you can see that the bridge is fully solid and secure.  It is the architecture on the side of the bridge which gives the bridge the appearance of falling down.

Do you ever feel as if life is falling apart, dear caregiver, as you care for your loved one?  As you perhaps watch your loved one deteriorate step by step in his or her health, it is easy to become discouraged.  I remember those feelings as a caregiver.  Yet whether our struggles be care-giving challenges or something else, the Lord asks us to look to the Lord and not at our circumstances.  The psalmist in Psalm 123:1 says to God in prayer, "I lift my eyes to You, to You whose throne is in heaven."  The psalmist says later in Psalm 123:2b "so our eyes look to the Lord our God till He shows us His mercy."  Even when it feels as if our world is crashing down around us that is merely an optical illusion like the London Tower Bridge.  God is in control, and he has it all in His hands.

In Psalm 73 the psalmist there had become discouraged by the unanswered "whys" of his life.  Yet I love his triumphant words towards the end of the chapter.  He says to God, "Yet I am always with You; You hold me by my right hand.  You guide me with Your counsel, and afterward You will take me into glory.  Whom have I in heaven but You?  And earth has nothing I desire besides You.  My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." (Psalm 73:23-26)

So resolve with me to keep our gaze on the Lord and not on our circumstances.  Can we like the prophet Habakkuk in the Old Testament of the Bible also resolve to praise the Lord no matter what?  In Habakkuk chapter three starting at verse seventeen the prophet lists a number of possible yet unthinkable situations that could happen to him in his life.  Yet the prophet says if any or all these things happen to him, he will "rejoice in the Lord."  He says even in the worst possible situation that life can throw at me, "I will be joyful in God my Savior."  May this be your and my resolve and prayer as well.