"This is an extreme ride with sever turns and an abrupt stop."

Standing in line at the amusement park to ride "White Lightning" I heard over and over, "This is an extreme ride with sever turns and an abrupt stop." This is a good description of life in general. The sever turns in life so often take me by surprise and my response to them can be internal screaming if not external screams. And then just as abruptly as the ride begins it ends.

With a cry of life the ride begins. No one can know what twists and turns will make up an individual's story. Then as abruptly as it began it ends. "We end our years like a sign. Our lives last seventy years or, if we are strong, eighty years. Even the best of them are toil and sorrow; indeed, they pass quickly and we fly away."(Psalm 90:9,10)

When King Jehoshaphat encountered a "sever turn" and was suddenly faced with a vast multitude who were coming against him he resolved to seek the LORD. This is what he did: "Then he consulted with the people and appointed some to sing for the LORD and some to praise the splendor of His holiness. When they went out in front of the armed forces, they kept singing: Give thank to the LORD, for His faithful love endures forever."(2 Chronicles 20:21)

The next "sever turn" happened the moment they began their shouts and praises. "The Lord set an ambush against the Ammonites, Moabites and the inhabitants of Mount Seir who came to fight against Judah, and they were defeated." (2 Chronicles 20:22) Praising God in the splendor of His holiness they were reminded of the truth that His faithful love endures forever. Jehoshaphat only lived to be sixty and his life was full of toil and then his years were over like a sign. However, when Jehoshaphat's life was over he entered into the splendor of the LORD's holiness to receive the faithful love of God that endures forever.

Father, sometimes when I encounter the "sever turns" of life I loose my balance. All of my attention is drawn into my confusion. Please help me to follow the example of King Jehoshaphat and to praise you in the spender of Your holiness and to keep singing and giving thanks for you faithful love that endures forever even when life comes to an abrupt stop.