Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy! I look to you for protection. I will hide beneath the shadow of your wings until this violent storm is past. Psalm 57:1-2 (NLT)
Earlier this year I was sitting in Wellington airport with a $6 refreshment voucher to spend at one of the many cafes. Air New Zealand was buying me a coffee and a muffin in an attempt to placate me for disrupting my day through flight delay. Fortunately I was not in a hurry and I had a good book to read, a ‘must have’ when travelling.
I have to admit that I don’t always deal well with disruptions in my life. I like things to run smoothly but life doesn’t always go according to our plans. This reality had been brought home to me in the recent hours spent in the waiting room of intensive care and at the bedside of my niece. I realised afresh that one’s life or the life of a family can be changed forever in a moment of time. I watched anxious faces waiting for news of their loved ones, and wondered what lay in store for them in their future; whether they would have to deal with a disabled person, weeks of therapy or even a death.
Disruptions come when we least expect them. Some are just minor inconveniences, others, life-changing catastrophes. How can we prepare for them, or is it even possible to prepare for them? I believe it is possible to be somewhat prepared. It all depends upon the strength of the foundation of our life.
We were designed to live life in relationship with God. He wants to be our strength and our help in times of trouble. He is the one who can be our shelter in the time of storm. We can only know the depths of the benefit of his help if we have developed a trusting relationship with him. We do this through an acceptance of his love for us and developing a knowledge of his willingness to be there for us in the tough times. Such an understanding comes through reading the Bible and learning to believe that what God says, he can and will do. Jesus promised his disciples that the Holy Spirit would bring things that they had heard from his teaching back to their remembrance when they needed it. That can be our experience too. I have experienced it many times; but unless we have a storehouse of his word within us, we don’t have much to go on in times of difficulty.
Praying daily to commit ourselves and our loved ones into God’s care enables us to face our day confident that God is in charge and nothing can come to us that he doesn’t know about and won’t help us with. We are so blessed to know the One who holds us in his heart and shelters us in times of trouble. We have no need to fear disruption because we know that we have a place of shelter in him until the storm is past.
Prayer: Father in heaven, help me to hide your words in my heart and grow in understanding of your love for me. Then I will find help in my time of need as I trust in you. Amen
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