My Rock

      Warm sunshine in January is a good thing. While snowmobilers and skiers might take exception, a warm-up day and a bright sun shining can do a great deal to lift spirits, raise hopes, and bring joy. One can only take so much cold, snow, ice, and rain… for so long… before his heart begins to get a little heavy. I honestly don’t know how people in Alaska do it. Joanne and I have noticed the clear change in people on bright days in the summertime after a few cloudy/rainy ones. We see it on the carriage paths or on the streets as we walk or ride. People are just different. They are smiling. They are more talkative and responsive to greetings. It’s an amazing transformation. But it is too bad that our disposition is so impacted and influenced by external conditions.

A relationship with Christ has made a tremendous difference in my life, because He is Lord over even my moods and my emotional ups and downs. The externals (weather, amount of light, etc.) seek to have an impact on me, but Christ is greater than those things. I am not some pinball being bounced around a variety of emotional swings caused by outward circumstances beyond my control. Whatever my situation, and wherever I may be, Jesus Christ is Lord. Since He is my source of joy – not the externals – I have victory in Him. They cannot defeat me or destroy me. They are (and will be) always passing away. I like the Scriptures that speak of God being my “rock”. We all know that God is not literally a rock. But He is like one – to and for us. There is an immovability to His nature. There is a certainty that He does not change. There is a strength that He has for every need and every situation. There is protection for the one in His shadow… for one who is “moored” to Him... for the one rests on Him.

Many Bible people had emotional ups and downs in their lives. Ultimately, only one truth mattered to them. Only one thing could help them. No matter what was happening, God was sovereign and trustworthy. In Him they were safe. He would not let them go, and they could not experience anything – including any and all of life’s hardships – without His enduring and assisting presence. All they need do was trust. Simple trusting is the key for peace in our hearts and minds on a daily basis. God is strong. I am not. May the Lord lead us to rely on Him more and more, and may we never doubt that joy will come “in the morning”.

Deuteronomy 33:27 (NIV) ²⁷  The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will drive out your enemy before you, saying, 'Destroy him!'

Psalm 18:2 (NIV) ²  The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Psalm 30:4-5 (NIV) ⁴  Sing to the LORD, you saints of his; praise his holy name. ⁵  For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

Psalm 62:6-7 (NIV) ⁶  He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. ⁷  My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.

Isaiah 26:3-4 (NIV) ³  You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. ⁴  Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.

Matthew 7:24-27 (NIV) ²⁴  "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶  But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

PRAYER:  Father, I cling to you… I trust you… in the midst of each day’s ups and downs. Deliver me from bondage to my feelings. Keep me from trusting in them. Keep me from being pushed around and controlled by them. Instead I will rest in you and rely on you and you alone. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!

Scott