Unless

I woke up thinking about the word 'unless' today.
This is how Webster defines that powerful little word:
"If not; in any case other than"

I looked up some verses.
They were just what I needed.
I wrote them on a little card and
underlined the word 'Unless' in yellow.
I underlined God's doings in orange-
help, mercy, comforts, law, goodness.
I underlined my humanity in blue-
anxieties, affliction, and lost heart.
I'll do that here.
I read and think on these words
and I am comforted.

"Unless the LORD had been my help,
My soul would soon have settled in silence.
If I say, "My foot slips,"
Your mercy, O LORD, will hold me up.
In the multitude of my anxieties within me,
Your comforts delight my soul."
(Ps.94:17-19)

"Unless Your law had been my delight,
I would have perished in my affliction."
(Ps.119:92)

"I would have lost heart,
unless I had believed that I would see
the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living."
(Ps.27:13)

Unless the LORD had been my help....
Unless Your law had been my delight....
Unless I had believed I would see Your goodness....

We have anxieties, affliction, and we are close to losing heart.

But we have the LORD's help, His mercy, His comforts.
We have His law.
We have our belief in His goodness.

Without these mercies,
Unless we had these mercies,
our souls would have settled in silence,
we would have perished in our affliction,
and we would have lost heart.

Unless...then we would have...

Thank God for the hope in that little word.