I remember the day like yesterday.

Nick was in the middle of his long journey through chemo,

and I had come home to spend a couple of days with our other four children.

Motherhood doesn’t stop when one child is sick,

and I was feeling the weight of trying to be the kind of mom each of my child needed at that time in their lives.

Tired.

Stressed.

Scared.

I was in my kitchen trying to cook

when my friend Donnette walked through the door to check on me.

It’s funny how moms forget they need to be taken care of too;

and for the next few minutes,

I had a chance to step out of my mom role and feel like a little girl

who needed a shoulder to cry on and someone to listen.

As we talked, she shared a Scripture she had been memorizing.

As I heard the words come from her lips,

I knew this passage was one I wanted to hide in my heart as well.

I clung to its words from that day forward,

and they’ve carried me through many frightening days.

So this morning as I read Psalm 56:3-4,

the very passage I had tucked away deep in my soul over ten years ago,

that moment with a friend in the spring of 2008 came back to me as if it were yesterday.

When I am afraid,

I will trust in You.

In God, whose Word I praise.

In God I will trust, I will not be afraid.

What can mortal man do to me?

David spent a lot of his early years running from Saul.

Hiding in cave after cave,

David surely wondered at times where God was.

But even when he did,

I don’t believe he ever stopped trusting in the One whose Word he praised.

Trusting doesn’t mean understanding.

In fact, I’ve found the moments when things make the least sense

to be the moments that require an even deeper trust in the One whose Word I praise too.

If I stopped trusting in God today,

my questions wouldn’t go away.

They would only cause my life to spiral into hopelessness,

because questions without answers are easier to bear when there’s someone listening.

And I believe God hears every unanswerable question.

Romans 15:13 says,

May the God of Hope fill you with ALL joy and peace

AS YOU TRUST IN HIM,

so that you may OVERFLOW WITH HOPE by the power of the Holy Spirit.

David’s trust in God caused him to overflow with Hope –

even as he hid from his enemy.

Uncertain of what each new day would hold,

he held on to the One who knew.

And as he was hiding,

he found a way to journal his doubts and fears

while reminding himself of God’s unfailing love.

Saul had been anointed by God but trusted in his own strength.

David had been anointed by God and put all his trust in Him.

I want to be David,

because in my own strength I would fail.

Every day.

___________________________

This morning, the sky is grey outside my window,

and I sense rain approaching.

Do the birds sense it too?

They chirp loudly from what sounds like every branch in my backyard,

proclaiming the morning with great celebration;

but where do they go when the rain beats down?

I’m not sure,

but I am sure of this.

God knows……..

and He cares.

He cares when the rain beats down in our lives too.

And He promises to provide a place for us to hide.

He will cover you with his feathers.

He will shelter you with his wings.

His faithful promises are your armor and protection. 

Psalm 91:4

He covered David as David trusted in Him,

and I believe He covers us today,

saying,

Do not be afraid;

you are worth more than many sparrows.

Matt. 10:31

Sometimes life is scary.

But when I am afraid,

I will trust in Him.

In God, whose word I praise.

In God I will trust; I will not be afraid.

What can mere mortals do to me?

I’m thankful this morning for a God who cares about every tiny detail of my life,

just as He cares for the birds outside my window.

And I’m thankful for friends who show up while I’m cooking

and bring His promises along with their hug.

(Today’s reading was from Psalm 17; 56; 73; 120; 140; 141; 142 and I Samuel 25 – 27.)