Every day, there is more bad news. Another criminal shot and more riots. A President who is seemingly unaware of the chaos he is allowing at our border. A pandemic still raging and vaccines with heavy prices to pay if you take them and if you don’t. It’s all bad news. But the good news is the promise that God is always our refuge, always our strength, always the one to whom we turn. Nothing that is happening has caught God by surprise. He’s still there, caring for His people.

I look at everything happening and I say, “But God…” I guess I’m really questioning my own faith at times. Where is God when all this is happening? Still there, still quietly waiting for all of us to acknowledge Him and ask for His wisdom and guidance and protection.

Andrew Murray: “Beware in your prayers, above everything else, of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what he can do.”

This quotation, along with the Scripture, spoke to my heart this morning. We don’t want to limit God by thinking that we know what He can and is doing. We cannot see all of His work, but we do know that He is still working on our behalf. We cannot imagine all that God can do, even if we tried. It is in our limited scope of mind that we try to think about solutions. It is our Infinite God who has the solution.

I listened to a song during my devotional this morning. It is by Steven Curtis Chapman, the last artist that I went to see before my stroke. Now, I cannot go to concerts because somehow loud noises reverberate in my brain and I have to wear noise-cancelling headphones frequently in loud settings. Anyway, that being said, SCC is still one of my favorite Christian musicians and one of his latest songs spoke to my heart, especially today. Everything is God’s. Everyone is God’s. With that in mind, it is easier to pray for our nation, its people, its unrest and its sinfulness. God is aware and is working, maybe openly or behind the scenes, but He is always working.

Yours by Steven Curtis Chapman

“When you feel lonely and wonder where God is, know that He is about you, above you, after you, amidst you, around you, among you, before you, behind you, beneath you, beside you, beyond you, by you, for you, inside you, near you, and over you. He is everywhere, all the time. Always and forever, He is near us.” From Devotional: “Good News: Encouragement for a World in Crisis.”

“When fear knocks on your door, let faith answer.” -Joyce Meyer

Blessings today and every day for a faith that faces fear, knowing that God is always there for you.