The Joy of the Lord is My Strength

Last night was the first time our little 5 Aspects of Woman group met. Half a dozen women, hungry to know God better, gathered around His Word. The Lord orchestrated events so that our first meeting would fall on the Jewish New Year--Rosh Hashana.

I spent the better part of this week preparing for last night's first meeting. I made and baked the round sweet challah bread which is traditional for Rosh Hashana yesterday morning before running Elizabeth to her afternoon tutoring appointment. I then rushed home and got the rest of the things I would need readied before heading to church.

I left later than I had intended. Traffic was terrible on the way to the church. Once I got there, I realized I had forgotten something (a small thing, but still forgotten). Matt came with me to help me get everything set up for the ladies. We hurriedly put everything together before the women arrived. Matt prayed with me in the kitchen before I returned to the library to begin the study.

The Lord showed me how the themes of Rosh Hashana--repentance, reflection on the sweetness of God and the anniversary of creation all tied in so beautifully with what we will be studying this year as a group and I shared all of this with the women.

The women were gracious in helping me get everything cleaned up when the meeting was done. A friend drove me home and we enjoyed edifying conversation.

I got ready for bed and was completely spent. Yet I still had to get up with Isaac four times in the night. I awoke this morning to a husband hurrying off to work for an early meeting and little ones who all needed me.

I prayed to the Lord as I read my Bible, "Lord, I just can't do this. I just can't lead this study for the next six months." And then I read this in Habakkuk, chapter 3:

¹⁷Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
¹⁸ yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
¹⁹GOD, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer’s;
he makes me tread on my high places.

He is all I need. He is my joy. He is my strength. Amen.