Prayer in a chemical emergency

I was cross about something and put an open can of turpentine down firmly on a shelf. Turpentine flew out of the can and into my eye. The pain was intense. While this was a situation where it might have seemed normal to call 911 for emergency assistance, my first thoughts when in trouble have consistently been directed to God, whom I’ve always found to be “a very present help in trouble” as the Bible says (Psalms 46:1). Because of the pain, however, I could not at first think of a hymn or a prayer or any other helpful idea. As I was about to scream for help, I remembered the pillow. 

The night before, my husband had awakened in the middle of the night, coughing. He said that the pillow was making him cough. I remember opening one eye, looking at the pillow, and thinking, “Wow, I didn’t know a pillow could say, ‘I am going to make this man cough.’ ” But I got him another pillow, and we went back to sleep. 

Now here I was, hopping around in great pain. I stopped and looked at the can of turpentine and thought, “Wow, I didn’t know turpentine could say, ‘Now I am going to cause this woman pain.’ ” Then this line from the twenty-third Psalm came to mind: “I will fear no evil: for thou art with me” (verse 4). With that thought, the pain stopped.