Rays of Light

photo credit: Joell Ortiz

When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!” Hats off to the clever optimist that first coined that phrase, but I think he forgot something. If you don’t put any sugar in that lemonade it is going to be unbearably sour –what’s the benefit in that? And as we all know, life seldom hands you lemons and sugar at the same time.

Take Tuesday morning for example. I woke up with all those flu-like symptoms that lets you know life will be on hold for the next twenty-four hours or so; no getting out of bed. Then the first call came. “Mom, I’m sick and I have a fever. You need to come get me.”

A short time later my husband called. “Are you sitting down?” he asked. (Don’t you just love phone calls that start like that?) After he told me the reason for his call I felt even sicker. “The car’s ready to be picked up” he said, “but it’s going to cost more than we thought. The bill is one-thousand dollars.” Who would’ve guessed that the car would’ve cracked its head gasket at the same time we were having fifteen-hundred dollars worth of repairs done on the van. Oh well, the car would have to be picked up later, I thought as I crawled back into bed.

My son and I both spent most of the day in one of those deep, illness-induced sleeps so I didn’t have much time to think about all those sour lemons, not that I really wanted to anyway. After several hours I moved out to the couch awaiting my husband’s return. I figured he would want to discuss the household needs for that evening if nothing else, but he didn’t. He simply cared for me then gingerly kissed my forehead. Feeling quite loved at that moment, I drifted off to sleep knowing that he would take care of everything.

Then, a few hours later, I awakened to the sounds of my beloved in the kitchen making dinner. And this was after picking up the car, chauffeuring kids and running a few errands. I figured he would be stressed at best and probably even moody and irritable. But there he was joyfully humming. I strained to hear the tune. Yes, he was definitely humming Be Thou My Vision.

This beautiful Irish hymn was written in the eighth century and later versified in 1905 by Eleanor Hull. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with this touching song, the words are as follows:

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

His humming was comforting so I put on some music and lay immersed in the lyrics of beautiful hymns. Some of them, like Be Thou My Vision, focused on God himself, others focused on His Word. My body wasn’t healed that very moment but I felt greatly strengthened because:

Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones. (Proverbs 16:24)

Scripture also says: How sweet are your words (Lord) to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth (Psalm 119:103)

This explains why my husband was joyful and at peace even in the midst of sickness and financial burden. We had been given some pretty sour lemons that day, but he knew that our heavenly Father loved us and that He would take care of everything –and that my friend, is sweet!

Bryan had chosen to turn our lemons into lemonade. That is to say, he made the decision to ensure the expensive repairs were all made so that his family would have safe, dependable vehicles to drive. Then he sweetened that lemonade by focusing his thoughts on the Lord –allowing Him to be his best thought by day or by night. And I’m sure, my husband rested in God’s comforting promise to supply all our needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).

What about you? Has your lemonade been sour lately? Remember, if you drink sour lemonade –you’ll wear a sour expression. Just a little food drink for thought.