I am a Christian, a retired teacher, a mother and a grandmother. I love to read and I love the Lord Jesus Christ! Unless otherwise specified ,all visual illustrations are from the YOU VERSION APP of the Bible.
If we are traveling the road of life, which all of us are, we will encounter sin and evil. Nevertheless, God’s Word tells us to stay on the path to life and He will honor us. One day, the wicked will be totally destroyed. That is our hope and our assurance. Not that we want to see the wicked destroyed, of course, What we really want is for them to repent and come to God. But God promises that one day we will not have to endure their wickedness, their plots and schemes against God and His people will be gone forever.
In the meantime, as we face the trouble here during our earthly journey, we can depend on God to rescue us and to provide a shelter for us. He is our stronghold, our fortress, the One on whom we can always depend.
The wicked think that they are winning the battle. What they don’t know is that they have already lost the entire war. The final victory belongs to God!
There are storms all around each of us daily, the storms of life and change and just surviving sometimes. How we react to those storms tells the world a lot about us as a person.
I have had two huge storms circling around me for months. The first was our grandson’s enlistment in the USN and leaving for boot camp. As my husband and I visited with him weekly, the fact that he would depart at the end of April was always at the back of my mind. Then, it happened. Our last lunch. Our final outing with Isaac, and the next day, he left. I have a deep ache in my heart because I miss him, but his leaving moved me closer to my Father in Heaven, the One who knows how deep the pain is and also how change is a part of life.
The other storm is raging around me as the sister who has lived near me for the last two plus decades prepares to move away. Her daughter, my niece, says that she will come to Virginia to get me for visits, but I know it won’t, but I know it won’t be the same. I’m just praying that different will be better. She leaves the end of this month, another departure of someone I’m close to. Again, I run to my shelter, the Lord who never leaves me no matter what changes the storms may bring.
I am hurrying to my shelter each day, many times a day, actually as the grief of separation overwhelms me. I am trusting God to take care of each of them, both Isaac and Ann, in their new places in life. I already know that He has me hidden in His hand, holding me close. When tears threaten to fall, He is comforting me with the promise that He will always be there for me and I will indeed see my loved ones again. I’m sad for those who don’t have this hope, the shelter on whom I depend so much when the storm is raging all around me.
He protects me from the worst of the storm, saves me from its power that could upend my life and grants me the safety and security of being in His presence, calming down my storm-tossed emotions.
My prayer for each of my readers is to know the safety and refuge that comes from being with the Lord. He is dependable and always ready to hold out His hand to help and comfort. His Word is a shelter, too, a tower and shield against all of the depressing thoughts that could come if it were not for His presence. Seek His love, His comfort and His presence and you will find it. He is just there, next to you, waiting for you to call upon Him.
The answer to the question that I have posed is in the Scripture–ALL the time! When things are going well, when things are going badly, when you’re well, when you’re ill, basically always. When you pray, it’s okay to tell God that you are having problems with faith. In fact, I prayed this morning for God to help my unbelief. It’s not that I doubt the existence of God, but that just sometimes like many of you, I get discouraged. The pain in my body was overwhelming this morning; there were not enough ice packs to take care of all of it. Nevertheless, I arose, thanked God for a new day, and here I am with this Scripture verse that God gave me in my devotional this morning. Perhaps this verse is only for me, but I’m sharing it here just in case someone else out there in the blogosphere needs it. It’s okay to tell God exactly how you’re feeling because He already knows and provides a shelter for us in His loving arms. God is good…all the time. I repeat that mantra to myself frequently, sometimes to remind myself and sometimes as a praise to Him. I hope that you remember that God wants what is best for you, all the time. He is always there to answer, even when you may be like me and suffering and grumpy. It’s amazing to me that God never gets grumpy with me! Blessings, my friends, for a day that is filled with God’s goodness and a day of trust and amazement at God’s goodness to you!
www.bible.com/1171/psa.62.8.mev
Vickie's Book Nook and Meditation Corner 