Last weekend our entire family traveled to another state to celebrate a milestone birthday for my dad. It was a good trip, although tinged with the reality that he is getting older and slower. Seeing family and friends made for a meaningful weekend, but it has taken me several days to recover from the physical and emotional strain of travel and emotional interactions. Today I was cleaning out my inbox and found verses which were helpful to me; perhaps they speak to your spirit, also:
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. (2 Corinthians 4:16 NIV)
For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand,
Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’ (Isaiah 41:13 NASB)
Keep and protect me, O God, for in You I have placed my trust and found refuge.
I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
I have no good besides You.”
As for the saints (godly people) who are in the land,
They are the majestic and the noble and the excellent ones in whom is all my delight.
The sorrows [pain and suffering] of those who have chosen another god will be multiplied [because of their idolatry];
I will not pour out their drink offerings of blood,
Nor will I take their names upon my lips.
The Lord is the portion of my inheritance, my cup [He is all I need];
You support my lot.
The [boundary] lines [of the land] have fallen for me in pleasant places;
Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.
I will bless the Lord who has counseled me;
Indeed, my heart (mind) instructs me in the night.
I have set the Lord continually before me;
Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my glory [my innermost self] rejoices;
My body too will dwell [confidently] in safety,
For You will not abandon me to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead),
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.
You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16 AMP)
God,
You are the Lord my God who upholds me, helps me, and reminds me not to fear. You are my Lord; I have no good besides you. I place my trust and find my refuge under your keeping and protection. Help me to not lose heart when life is full of hard things, but to remember that you will renew me each day. Help me to be careful in those I emulate, so that as I follow their examples, you are my portion, my inheritance, my support, and my all-sufficient God. Thank you for the beautiful parts of my heritage and the pleasant things you have instilled into my life. I bless you because you counsel me and instruct my heart and mind. I set you continually before me because at your right hand I will not be shaken. My heart is glad, my innermost self rejoices, and I dwell confidently in safety, for you will not abandon me. You will show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore. I ask these things in Jesus’s name, AMEN.