Grains of Sand

Pixabay This is one of those verses that prompts the question, “how?” every time. “ A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all .” (Psalm 34:19) No, He doesn’t—at least not always in the way we want Him to. Yes, there are times when God acts as we anticipate He will, as we pray that He will. But there are times when He does not. What then? Does that make this verse, along with others like it, a lie? I remember back to the early days in Venezuela. Our church planting efforts got off to a slow start and we had very few new believers. One of those was a woman by the name of Betty. Her story was indeed one of God’s grace—from someone whose face scared the people sharing the elevator with her to someone whose face radiated forgiveness and joy and peace with God. She was a walking, talking testimony to what God could do in a life. Then she got cancer. We prayed, pleaded, for her healing. She died. At the time, we were devastated. But thinking back we a...

Pixabay “ In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears ” (Psalm 18:6). There is a lot of that going around these days—a lot of calling out to the Lord. If you read the rest of the psalm you discover how the Almighty answered David as he cried out to the Lord. It’s impressive reading. But the words of this particular verse from the psalms came to mind as I was reading Exodus 23 earlier this morning. These have been challenging days, days of huge concern, sorrow, confusion, doubt, and even a little fear. And each has been met, in some way, by some form of reassurance that the call for help from the Lord will not, and has not, gone unanswered. This morning was no different. Israel is still at the foot of Mount Sinai. Moses is still furiously taking notes as God tells him what is required of the nation-in-the-making. Then the Lord says: “ See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you alo...

Welcome to Word-Filled Wednesday. This week Lori is doing us the honour of hosting. You can find her and links to other pictures and Scriptures at All You Have to Give . Check it out. My dear aunt Esther just turned 98. She spent this birthday in the hospital after suffering a stroke last Thursday. The picture reminds me that though we might not be able to hold on to her for long, the Lord will hold on to her forever. Isaiah 46:4 says: " Even in your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you ."