‘I’ve got enough problems of my own without hearing about yours, Richard.’
That rather hurtful one-liner was flung in my direction some 40 years ago. To be fair, the person who said it did have their own problems. About the same age as me, she had cancer and sadly died a year or so later. What I had thought was a good friendship had for various reasons begun to deteriorate. And while I haven’t thought of those words for a long time, they were just one of many instances which have held a place in my lifelong struggle with confidence about friendships. (There’s more about the doubts which affect day to day living in my new book, Living with Doubt.)
Such ‘one-liners’ can have lasting impacts, can’t they… and they’re often not funny.
Similarly, though, other short statements can be encouraging and affirming. For example, I still have the 50 or so emails I received congratulating my appointment as MBE. And when I moved on from paid employment, I was given a jar full of messages from people writing about me and what I meant to them. (I probably ought to read them again…)
Having just spent a few days at Mucknell Abbey I was reminded of and affirmed by the importance and centrality of the Psalms. Indeed, in my own daily personal prayer times I have started reading the Psalms once again. And so often there are ‘one-liners’, single statements of scripture, which speak right the heart. The very depth of our being. Or to use the words of a hymn by John Bell and Graham Maule, speak in to those times ‘When hearts are tired or sore, and hope is bruised or bent.’ But there are also verses about trust and in praise of God’s enduring faithfulness.
Here are some of the one-liners which keep me going:
- I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. (Psalm 9:1)
- To you, O Lord I lift up my soul, oh my God in you I trust. (Psalm 25:1)
- I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. (Psalm 40:1)
- My soul clings to you, your right hand holds me fast.(Psalm 63:8)
- I will both lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety. (Psalm 4:8)
The Book of Isaiah is also home to many such words as well:
- In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength. (Is 30:15)
- I have called you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. (Is 43:1-2)
- Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (Is 40:31)
Maybe you have your own? Perhaps you’d like to make a list too.
And perhaps to encourage others, please do post them on the Facebook group or, if you like, do drop me an email.
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Living with Doubt will be published in November. Details of all my books can be found at richardfrostauthor.com.
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