Why Am I Here?

Psalm 30: 1 I give you all the credit, God - you got me out of that mess, you didn't let my foes gloat. 2 God, my God, I yelled for help and you put me together. 3 God, you pulled me out of the grave, gave me another chance at life when I was down-and-out. 4 All you saints! Sing your hearts out to God! Thank him to his face! 5 He gets angry once in a while, but across a lifetime there is only love. The nights of crying your eyes out give way to days of laughter. 6 When things were going great I crowed, "I've got it made. 7 I'm God's favorite. He made me king of the mountain." Then you looked the other way and I fell to pieces. 8 I called out to you, God; I laid my case before you: 9 "Can you sell me for a profit when I'm dead? auction me off at a cemetery yard sale? When I'm 'dust to dust' my songs and stories of you won't sell. 10 So listen! and be kind! Help me out of this!" 11 You did it: you changed wild lament into whirling dance; You ripped off my black mourning band and decked me with wildflowers. 12 I'm about to burst with song; I can't keep quiet about you. God, my God, I can't thank you enough. (The Message)

I love living by the water. As I leave this city to parts north, I make it a point to drive along Shoreline Drive to remind myself that this is my home. I've lived among the mountains and I loved living by mountains. I've lived by rivers and I've loved living by rivers. I've lived in the Rio Grande Valley and I've loved living in the Valley. What I love about all these places is that there has always been a reason and purpose for my living where I lived. The mountains came during a year of re-discovering my call to seminary and I was in Iliff. The mountains were a bonus. The other areas have come as I was appointed to different churches. And I never thought of those areas as bad or unattractive or uninhabitable, for there were already people living there long before I arrived. I arrived in the name of Jesus, sent by Jesus to do what I could to make the gospel real for those who had not yet heard. Never had I moved with conditions or restrictions; I knew that ultimately God was calling me to share God's love with folks and to try and speak about what it means to have a relationship with God.

Easter is a time for re-discovering our purpose for life. The death of Jesus gives us a new appreciation for life and it coincides with the birth of those plants and flowers that for some time have been dormant. As the trees in our yards get the green back on them so should we have that appreciation for God and God's plan and purpose for our lives. The psalmist knew not every day is a perfect or wonderful day, but every day lived in the Lord is a day of blessing and growing. Even the not-so-good things speak to us and teach us. The psalmist came to a point in his life where he thought his prosperity was something he would never lose and even declares, "I shall never be moved," but a move from wealth to less than poverty came his life. It was then he cried out to God and rediscovered the help that God offers those of us who sometimes lose our way.

May this day be a day of dancing and joy even in the midst of things that may call us to things opposite of dancing and joy. May we be clothed with the joy that comes in knowing and trusting God in all things. Don't be silent about giving thanks to God in all things!

PRAYER: Loving God, thank You for where I am. Show me the purpose for which I was created and for being where I am. Lift me if I am down. Heal me if I am sick. Save me from the disillusionment of prosperity to the reality of Your love in all things. This I pray in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!

Eradio Valverde