Strength from the Rock

Strength from the Rock. 

Strength from the Rock. 1 Timothy 1.12; Psalm 61.2-3; Psalm 18.2

The phone rang twice from one son. The phone rang again from the next son. The phone rang yet again from the third son. I missed them all, because I had left my phone upstairs. All were calling about the same thing—a fallen brother. It has been more than a year now since Matthew (now 32) was diagnosed with epilepsy after blunt force trauma to the head, and he has actually been doing quite well for some time now, with the help of anti-seizure medication. But late Sunday night he had a very bad seizure; by Monday morning, he could still barely talk. But what could I do? I live 400-plus miles from him. I could pray.

Early Wednesday morning, the sad news came that 16-year-old San Clemente High School cheerleader and all-around sweet girl lost her long battle to leukemia. Shockwaves went through the high school and even the middle school where her brother is a student. We all thought God was going to do a miracle and heal her. When Danny got home from her candlelight vigil last night, he stared rather blankly and said, ‘I just didn’t think it would happen.’ Neither did I. I was confident of the 11th hour miracle. How will her broken-hearted family and closest friends get strength to move forward? I must pray.

Oh, I could go on, but the point is made—some things in life are simply not in our control. We cannot fix or remedy them. We have no right words either. We cannot explain, and we daren’t say anything trite.

An old tune ambles through my mind—the words, ‘For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I’ve committed unto him against that day.’ Those are the words of a hymn that I remember singing as a little girl, standing next to my mama in a small Baptist church. I did not understand the meaning, I will confess, until much, much later. But I loved the tune of that particular old song so much I can recall the words today.

I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.

2 Timothy 1.12

What was Paul saying to the young pastor, Timothy, in this verse? What he was saying to Timothy, what this scripture is saying to us, should we take time to understand it is:

When there are no explanations,

When I do not have solutions to problems,

When I cannot answer the obvious ‘why’ questions,

When things are not going the way I planned,

When relationships are broken,

When it appears there is only heartache on the horizon,

When tragedy has struck …

This is what I know for sure: I know who I believe in--God Almighty.

He is not only able, but will truly guard

the faith I have placed in him, forever~

in life, in death, and for eternity.

God will make sense of things that I cannot.

A prayer: Lord God, I am weak and sometimes feel thrown this way and that in life … by events that are beyond my scope to fix, and oft by my own failings—anxieties, worries and proclivities. Yet you are God. You are the God on the throne, and you are mighty—your power greater than any other that exists, and it is mine. As David prayed, ‘From the ends of the earth, I cry to you for help when my heart is overwhelmed.

Lead me to the towering rock of safety, for you are my safe refuge, a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me.’ Psalm 61.2-3 Amen.

Indeed, “The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.” Psalm 18.2

So when life doesn’t make sense, when things are especially difficult, when we need strength, the only place we can go is to God, and we do that through our thoughts and words that we utter to him in prayer. He is our Rock.

Christine

PastorWoman.com