Knowing Your Name

I'm reading through the Psalms for my quiet times, and so far so good.  I read Psalm 9 yesterday, and I was compelled to memorize a verse:

"Those who know Your name trust You, for You, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek You."  --Psalm 9:10, NIV

There is a wonderful older couple in my life named Billy Ray and Mittie Kay Smith--Yes, they are as cute as they sound.  When I was in third semester of nursing school, Hannah and I had to find a couple over the age of 65, go to their home, assess their health, and teach them about an area health or safety where they were not meeting the mark.  Of course, we got the healthiest couple on the planet:  They ate healthy; their home was safe; they knew more about their medicines than we did; Mr. Billy even has a pocketbook where he writes down his blood pressure every time they take it at the doctor. 

Mrs. Mittie is the talker of the two.  She is the epitome of the Old South.  She is so pleasant and kind and wants the best for everyone.  Mr. Billy just sits and listens to us talk and interjects when he needs to.  Mr. Billy was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma a few years ago, and he did radiation for it.  Mrs. Mittie always says, "They say his cancer is the best kind to have because it is curable and treatable."  So, his cancer went into remission after some radiation.  We started our assessments on them maybe 6 months to a year after those treatments were over.  They came to our graduation in May, and simply having their presence there was such a joy.

At the beginning of the summer, Mr. Billy found out his cancer was no longer in remission, and that chemo had to begin.  Mind you, Mr. Billy is a strong man.  He does yard work and gets out and exercises.  He was to get one chemo treatment every other Thursday times 6 treatments I think.  Slowly, I saw a strong man whom I love so much lose his hair, lose his energy, and lose that positivity that he always had.  Hannah called Mrs. Mittie this past weekend, and we found out a surprising message:  Mr. Billy was in the critical care unit in the hospital.  He had gotten pneumonia and gone into heart failure.  When I went to visit them on Tuesday, they had gotten into a regular room.  I walked in and found a dangerously weak and confused man.  He was constantly trying to pull his oxygen off or pull his heart monitor off.  He had no rest.  His chest rose and fell so quickly, and you could tell he was fighting for every breath he got.  The doctors' messages are conflicting.  None of them communicate with each other; therefore, they confuse Mrs. Mittie when they talk to her.  Hannah and I are both nurses now, and thankfully one of us has been in there the last few times doctors have come in to talk with them so we can relay messages to each other about what they said.  Mrs. Mittie has cried on both of us.  I know she's scared he's not going to make it, and I'm scared of that too. 

"Those who know Your name trust in You, for You, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek You."

Trust is a word with so many implications and so much submission and surrender.  It's hard for me to trust that the Lord is doing what's best for the Smiths.  However, I know His name.  It's amazing what His name can do.  Demons shriek merely at the sound of His name.  People are healed in His name.  We pray and put our requests at the feet of the Father through Jesus' name.  Anyone who calls upon His name can be saved, Scripture says.  If I can trust Him to save me through it, can't I also trust Him with my life and the circumstances of life because His name is stamped on my heart?  Everyday, I'm trusting Him to give me my next breath.  Every moment, I'm trusting Him to make my heart beat.  Why is it that it's so difficult to trust Him with those special people in my life when He's the one--in every sense of the word--sustaining me and them?  "...for You, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek You."  I'm going to trust that the Lord knows what He's doing because He's never failed me.  Lord, thank You for being constant.  My life has had people constantly moving in and out of it, circumstances constantly changing, but You've been there for all of it.  Lord, may I learn to trust You even when it's difficult to do that.  Thank You that You are greater than me and that Your ways and thoughts are higher than mine.  Thank You that You call me beloved.  Thank You for being a Savior, in so very many different ways.