Good Times, Bad Times

There’s an old hymn that goes, “Guide me, O Thou Great Jehovah, pilgrim through this barren land.” 

That 2^nd phrase was changed at some point to be more positive: “Guide me, O Thou Great Jehovah, pilgrim through this bounteous land.”

Annnnnd it was quickly changed back.

That bounteous image didn’t work because  it’s not authentic to our life experience.  We really do go through desolate spaces and times.

Sometimes we stumble over them, or maybe they sneak up on us, during good times of great blessing.

But they happen.

And the contrast can be painful.

Like another old hymn says, “I need Thee every hour.”

Like…oh, like today, for example…whether it’s bounteous, barren, or somewhere in between.