August 23, 2024

Psalm 46:1-3  (HCSB)
God Our Refuge For the choir director. A song of the sons of Korah. According to Alamoth.
 1 God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble. 2 Therefore we will not be afraid, though the earth trembles and the mountains topple into the depths of the seas, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with its turmoil. Selah

Ally Jackson
Reflect on a time that seemed to be going “too smoothly” for too long. Did you have anxiety about the timing of your next struggle? Oh, what must it be like to have the kind of peace that is fearless. Peace must have room to dwell, and it can’t co-exist with anxiety. It’s only built through spiritual preparation. I’m the queen of anxious. I got it honest. My mom calls each of her children at the first sound of sirens close by. Her mind immediately brews the worst-case scenario, becoming more real every minute passes that we don’t answer the phone. Though her anxiety grows in uncertainty of her loved ones’ safety, so far, we’ve always called her back. Our fate was just as real the moment she heard the sirens as the 30 minutes of self-inflicted mental torture that followed. But what if the reality had been different –if we had been in an accident? Her anxious thoughts had no bearing on our situation. But they sure did steal her joy. Even though we mull over these anxious scenarios, we still don’t fully believe it’ll happen to us. In 2022, 42,795 calls were made to inform family that a loved one was in a fatal crash. I’ve not been through this experience to date, but the thought of it makes me nauseous. I can’t fathom it. I’m sure they couldn’t either before it happened to them. But here they are now, finding a way to continue life on earth in the absence of their loved one. How awe-inspiring to have hope after that kind of pain. It truly is a testament to God’s compassion and the strength of their faith in Him.  We’re not promised that we won’t get the call informing us of a loved one’s passing, a positive cancer screening, or some other form of hopeless outlook. How do we prepare for unexpected tribulations? Building hope in God alone is the only way to prepare for a life that doesn’t lose faith in His goodness, regardless of the magnitude of any heartache we will face here on earth.