District nursing

Mikah Parsons finds strength and hope in the psalms

As I travel about on my rounds as a District Nurse, I often have the pleasure of driving around the countryside, visiting small villages, finding myself on some bumpy farm track leading me to my next patient. I get to see on a daily basis God’s beautiful creation. With spring now upon us, I thoroughly enjoy gazing at the daffodils lining the verges and watching the lambs frolicking in the fields. What a blessing!I get such a lot of satisfaction and enjoyment from the job the Lord has led me into. It is at times like these when Psalm 16:5-6 (New King James Version) comes to mind: ‘O Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Yes, I have a good inheritance.’

And yet I am often reminded of this verse, and not just when the day is going well. Even after a particularly busy or mentally exhausting day, this verse is no less true. In verse nine it goes on to encourage us to ‘rest in hope‘.

On some particularly trying days, which we will all experience at some point or another, we can find rest in the knowledge that our hope is in the Lord. We are secure knowing it is he who will supply all our needs, especially as he is faithful in all his ways. I can have true rest and a steadfast hope knowing he will provide me with the strength to provide nursing care for my patients one day at a time, even on the busiest shifts.

And he can do the same for you too! His Word promises that, ‘Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God.’ (Psalm 146:5)

Such a peace and joy we can know because the Lord is our inheritance and our help.