A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford
A friend of mine likes to analyze her friends, like a therapist, to decide their “temperament.” Through the years, I’ve taken lots of those tests, all based on the psychology of the moment. I remember a test by the Christian psychologist Gary Smalley which I took in the 1970’s. It promised to tell me whether I had the temperament of a lion, a bear, an otter, or a golden retriever. I didn’t especially want to be any of those!
I took my first such test in high school. My guidance counselor said the tests indicated that, because of my love of music and athletics, I should consider a career as a Broadway chorus girl. As the daughter of a conservative Baptist pastor, I’d never even seen a dance floor. That day I became rather skeptical of temperament tests in general.
My analytical friend asked me, “So what is your temperament?”
“I took a Myers-Briggs test once, and it said I’m a melancholic–whatever that is,”
“That’s easy to test,” she said quickly. “Is your glass half-full or half-empty?”
“My glass? Oh, it’s full to the brim!”—and this Baptist pastor’s daughter affirms it gladly and gratefully, because it’s true. My temperament could make me pessimistic. But the holy God who loved me enough to let Jesus die to pay for my sins did more than just save me from eternal punishment: He gave me all the treasures of His Heaven.
Satisfy us each morning
with your unfailing love,
So we may sing for joy
to the end of our lives.
Psalm 90:14 (NLT)
God’s love never, never ends. When we entrust our lives to Him, He gives us His “unfailing love.” That undying love can satisfy every yearning, every longing, every “hole” in our wounded hearts. No matter our inheritance, no matter our circumstances, no matter our temperament, we can experience His unfailing love every morning, then sing for joy to the end of our lives. No matter the temperament we were born with, sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric, or melancholic, we can live happily in His love for the rest of our days.
Eugene H. Peterson, in his paraphrase of the Scriptures, The Message, renders Jeremiah 31:3 this way:
“This is the way God put it:
‘They found grace out in the desert,
these people who survived the killing.
Israel, out looking for a place to rest,
met God out looking for them!’
“God told them,
‘I’ve never quit loving you and never will.
Expect love, love, and more love!”
It’s because of His grace and His generosity that I can confidently claim my emotional bucket is brimful and running over.