Ps 88:3 For my life is full of troubles, and death draws near.
My mother-in-law lived a rich full life until ninety-two but the last year or so she had days when she just wanted to die. She had a pacemaker and arthritis. That’s it. No diabetes, high blood pressure, or cholesterol issues. Many times when I went to see how she felt her response was “I could just die.”
I laughingly said, “Not today, the paperwork is ridiculous and I really don’t have the time for it.” That was our running discourse over the last months of her life until one evening she went to bed, laid back and passed instantly.
Much of life is plagued with unpleasant situations and trouble, but the important thing is how we handle these times. Even in the NICU I found myself confronting problems with “not today”. If short staffed, someone would say it’s going to be bad, and I responded not today. Full assignments and three new admits in twelve hours, someone thinking out-loud we’ll never get finished—my answer, not today. An escalating irate father threatening us—not today. While working well baby admit nursery alone and receiving eight in one shift, thoughts of missing something critical on assessment troubled me—not today.
We need to prepare for life overwhelming us with prayer and deep faith in God. My faith allows me to see that nothing will happen that Jesus and I together can’t handle. When life slaps you in the face, turn our cheek and say “not today devil my God is stronger than you.”
Jena Kleinpeter 