Inspirations from the Funny Farm

Isaiah 6:8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

Matthew 28:16-20 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

I love Isaiah 6:8. It’s been a favorite verse since our first mission trip abroad. That trip really opened my eyes to the fact that there are so many lost people out there who need Jesus! I grew up in a Christian home with a daddy that truly loves the Lord. I have been in church my whole life…like literally Daddy has us there the first Sunday after we were born! I’ve been surrounded by Christians my entire life. I guess I’ve been living in a big old Christian bubble.

The problem I recognized after our first mission trip to Peru was that there are a whole lot of people on this earth that don’t know Christ. To take it a step further, our pastor conducted an evangelism training course a couple of years ago. This challenged me to ask people more often about their relationship with Christ. In doing so I learned that people I had known for many years were totally lost. I made the mistake of assuming everyone around me knew Christ just like I did, but a lot of folks did not! That broke my heart, and at the same time, it put a fire inside of me that can not be quenched. I don’t want people dying and going to hell. There are only two final addresses for all of us: Heaven or Hell. We get the luxury of choosing our final abode: a mansion In heaven or a burning pit of fire. Christ died on the cross for my sins and your sins, and He rose from the grave. He defeated death, and in doing so He gave us the greatest gift we could ever receive. My friend, Ally, and I were discussing this yesterday and talking about how sad it is to know that people will go to hell. She said, “The saddest part about it is that they just don’t accept the FREE gift that was given.”

Peeps, salvation costs us nothing, nada, not even a penny, but it cost Christ everything! He promises us eternity with Him. We only have to accept the gift. If you haven’t accepted this precious gift, what are you waiting for? Holler at your girl if you need to talk. If you have accepted the Gift, are you sharing Him with others? Let the great commission be your mission!

Psalm 25:5-15 Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you. Remember, O Lord, your compassion and unfailing love, which you have shown from long ages past. Do not remember the rebellious sins of my youth. Remember me in the light of your unfailing love, for you are merciful, O Lord. The Lord is good and does what is right; he shows the proper path to those who go astray. He leads the humble in doing right, teaching them his way. The Lord leads with unfailing love and faithfulness all who keep his covenant and obey his demands. For the honor of your name, O Lord, forgive my many, many sins. Who are those who fear the Lord? He will show them the path they should choose. They will live in prosperity, and their children will inherit the land. The Lord is a friend to those who fear him. He teaches them his covenant. My eyes are always on the Lord, for he rescues me from the traps of my enemies.

I woke up with the old hymn written by Candi Pearson-Shelton, “He Leadeth Me,” on my mind. He leadeth me, O blessed thought, O words with heavenly comfort fraught. Whate’er I do, where’er I be, still ’tis God’s hand that leadeth me. Sometimes mid scenes of deepest gloom, sometimes where Eden’s flowers bloom, by waters still, over troubled sea still ’tis His hand that leadeth me. He leadeth me, He leadeth me by His own hand He leadeth me. His faithful follower I would be for by His hand He leadeth me.

I’ve known so many people who have let God lead them through stormy times of life. I know that I have been begging Him to daily lead me for sure. I couldn’t spend one single day at work if I didn’t know that God was leading my path, directing my decisions, and guiding my heart. I want to be a God-worshipper like this Psalmist with my arrows aimed at God’s bullseye. I pray every day that I keep my eyes on God. I still trip over my own two feet (literally), but spiritually I know with Him, my feet are standing on solid ground. God is so loving. God never promised that this life would be easy, but He did promise that He would never leave us. I read a quote this week that said, “Sometimes when I’m having a hard day, I imagine God sitting next to me.” He is there y’all. He is always there. We can not see Him, but we can feel His presence just as sure as we can feel our own hearts beating within our chest.

No matter where you are right now in your relationship with Christ, no matter how far you think you have strayed, no matter how big you think your sins are, He is still a God of forgiveness and love. If you don’t have this kind of relationship with our Savior, I pray you find it soon. There’s no greater peace during this awful time than realizing that even though I can’t control what’s happening, God already has my path planned for my good and His glory. I only have to let Him take the lead. Won’t you let Him lead you today?

Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

1 Peter 1:8-9 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Habakkuk 3:18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

Psalm 118:24 The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad.

I love the song, “This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.” The words are from Psalm 118. Some days, we wake up, and we don’t really feel like jumping around with glee. We may feel overwhelmed with stress. We may feel sad or unhappy. We may feel tired and worn out. BUT there is always joy to be found within us. Happiness and joy are two very different things. You see, happiness is dependent upon how good life is at the moment. Happiness moves up and down on a scale based on how we are doing in life. Happiness depends upon our circumstances. Whereas joy does not. Joy comes from the remaining presence of Jesus. Once you receive Christ as your Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit fills your heart. So if your heart is full of the Holy Spirit, you are ultimately full of joy! How could we not be?

Paul thought is was important enough to make the point twice. Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! We must rejoice in our Lord always! We become joyful in all circumstances because even though we may struggle through trials and tribulations, we still have joy within us because we know that we are not going through those trials alone. Joy comes from truly knowing Christ and having a relationship with Him. The closer we become in our relationship with Christ, the more joyful we are. We become able to see past our current circumstances and recognize that “God’s got this.” I don’t know how He is going to work things out, but because I have faith in Him, I know He will work everything out for my good and His glory! I believe that with my whole being. This is the day that the Lord has made! Let is rejoice and be glad in it! Be joyful, today and everyday!!

Matthew 28:19-20 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Isaiah 6:8 Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.”

I heard a quote on American Family Radio that I feel rings true with today’s society. “If all you do is go to the football games, sit in the stands, and cheer the team on, you will never get a work out. You will get fat and lazy, and you will never score. This is the state of our church today.” You can either say, “Amen” or “Ouch!” Think about that for a moment, Peeps. In many cases, going to church has become likened to going to a football game. We get dressed up and attend on Sunday mornings. We sit through the praise and worship service. If it isn’t to our liking, we go on down the road to another church next week. We want to be entertained. We want the praise team and the pastor to put on a good show for our money…that is if we even tithe. We may even let an amen or two slip out if it gets really good, but when the sermon is over, it’s over…over until next week. During the week, we go on about our business as usual without a thought of church, God, or scripture. If that is our mindset, then I really hate to say it, but we are all going to get fat and lazy. We are missing out on a well needed daily spiritual workout. We are missing out on many much needed conversations with out Lord. We are missing out on the score! If we keep our faith all to ourselves and never share the gospel with another soul, we are truly missing the whole point!

Last night, our church went outside the walls of the building to do an outreach at some apartments in town. We asked permission from the managers, which we received, but we were met with some resistance after the fact as we later learned that although the complexes are situated in close proximity, the tenants are not allowed to go off of their property and onto the other property. We finally worked it out so that we could meet in the middle in between the complexes. We prayed over this outreach. Our friend, Nick, grilled and smoked about a hundred pounds of chicken. Eric made a humongous cast iron pot of jambalya. We also cooked up a huge pot of green beans, and the ladies of the church donated desserts and rolls. We made sure to invite all of the people from each individual apartment a week prior to the event. We set up games, tables, and chairs. We sat down and ate with strangers. We got to know these people. We learned facts about their lives, where they worked, and the things that were on their heart. We had several plates left over after the event, and my husband and I loaded these up and drove around our little town to the local gas stations and dollar stores and delivered meals to the workers. Everyone was very receptive and grateful.

When it was all said and done, to an outsider looking in, one might say that we failed. We didn’t have a very big turn out, at least not the turn out that we had hoped for, but we didn’t fail. We shared the gospel. The Good News of Jesus Christ was shared with these people! One woman in particular shared that it had been on her heart to get back into church, and our presence was just what she needed to remind her that now is the time. She told me that she lacked transportation. Another lady and I gave her our cell phone numbers and offered to pick her up and bring her to church. If we made a difference in only one person’s life, if even one person’s heart was changed, if even one seed was planted last night, I think that our outreach was an amazing success.

I don’t say these things to brag on my church, although I love my church dearly. No, my friends, I am sharing this to express that it is important for us to be more mission minded. We can’t sit in the stadium and expect the crowds to come to you. You don’t have to plan a big outreach and pray that someone shows up. You merely need to pray that God puts someone in your path and that He gives you the boldness to speak the truth of the gospel to that person. Plant a seed. Water one that has already been planted. You may not ever see that seed come to fruition, but that’s not your job. As Christians, we are charged with the duty of sharing the gospel, planting the seed, and watering the seed. The Holy Spirit will do the rest. We must learn to daily step outside of our comfort zone and be more mission minded. Get off of the bench. Quit warming the bleachers. Get out there and get in the game! As you plan your day today, plan time to dig in the Word, plan time to pray, and plan time to share the Good News! Be mission minded! Be a blessing to someone today!

Isaiah 40:31 But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.

I Peter 5:10 In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.

Colossians 3:23 Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.

This past week has been a busy week, but that isn’t anything new. It seems like every day of every week lately has been extremely busy. I feel like we are running ninety miles per hour, and the hours of the day run out before the tasks do. We’ve been rather busy at work for quite a while now. My second job, from which I was given a hiatus due to COVID-19, has decided to pick back up, and now that schedule is full. We’ve redone a few things around the house this year, and oh, let us not forget our regular chores around the house and the farm. Life is busy. It sometimes can even be overwhelming if we allow it to be, but instead of getting overwhelmed, I want to see the blessings in it. I’m tired, oh boy am I tired! Yet, I am ever so grateful.

I can complain (if I said I didn’t, I would be lying), but I have found that complaining never really benefits me at all. All complaining does is bring me down further, and it also brings those we are complaining to down. When my mind goes to whining zone, I try to move it quickly out of that zone and put it into the prayer zone. God hears words like these from this girl frequently: “Oh Lord, I am tired. I am irritable. I am exhausted! But God I am so grateful. I am thankful. Thank you for giving me the ability to complete these tasks. Thank you for giving me this wonderful career. Thank you for allowing me to work for you.” I’m telling you the truth. You may not feel less tired or less exhausted, but you will certainly feel much happier about being exhausted.

I am willing to guess that you are tired this morning too. It is Sunday. It is the day set aside to worship our Lord even more specifically than we do the rest of the week. You may be thinking that you are too tired to get to church this morning. You may have 1001 things on your “to do list” that need to be accomplished before the work week. You may think that this is your only day off, and you are going to enjoy it. Well, my friends, I challenge you to really, truly enjoy your day. That task list can wait. Get up, get dressed, and get to church this morning. My day is full. We have a WMU meeting at 9:00 am, then my husband and I teach Sunday School at 10:00 am, and then we have morning worship at 11:00 am. Our kids and parents are coming to lunch at our house at noon, and I can already smell the crockpot lasagna simmering, roasted asparagus, a fresh green salad with home grown lettuce, and there is a Razzleberry pie for dessert oozing with yumminess in the oven. Later this evening, our church is hosting a block party at two apartment complexes in town. We are going to feed and love on those people and share the gospel with them. Our day is full, but it is full of Christ…not full of me! I can rest in Christ today knowing that although today’s schedule is full, at the end of the day, I will look back and feel even more blessed than I do right now.

If you looked at my schedule, you might say that I don’t have time to slow down and participate in all of the activities of today, but I challenge you to see this. We are placed here on earth by our wonderful, gracious, loving Father. He created us in His image to glorify Him. That is truly our only purpose for being here. He has blessed us greatly with many talents. He has given us good jobs, nice homes, and wonderful families. He wants us to enjoy those things. He wants us to enjoy the blessings of life, but He doesn’t want us to enjoy all the “stuff” or even to wear ourselves down working on doing the “stuff”. He wants us to spend time with Him, in His Word, with His people, and glorifying and serving Him. If you have gotten too busy for God, then all I can say is you are much too busy!

Take today off from the busyness of life, and enjoy time with the Father. Join together with like minded believers. Praise His name. Rest in Christ today! I know you are tired. I feel you! I do! I am very tired too, but I am more grateful than I am tired. Today, I’m going to get out there and glorify my Father because I know that is where I will find rest!

Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Romans 5:3-4Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

Psalm 42:5Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Hope: It’s a tiny little word that has a powerful meaning. We use the word hope all too lightly. We say things like, ” I hope you have a good day,” “I hope the garden does well this year,” or “I hope this weather cools off soon.” But hope isn’t just a little term of wishful thinking. It’s not simply an emotion. With hope, we have the power within us to turn to God and know that His promises are true. That’s real hope.

I started sharing these daily quiet time devotions and thoughts because I personally needed to get in God’s word to find hope for myself as I endured yet another crisis in life. This time it is an unseen virus that has been unleashed on us. It has wreaked havoc on our families, our nation, and our world. I needed to grab hold of some hope to cling to as I muddled my way through. I also felt that maybe someone reading my ramblings might be looking for and find a little hope too. I’ve recognized over the past months, as I have many times in my life, that once again I am not in control! I’ve always been one who had to “be in control” of the situation, but there are many things that are simply out of my control.

Having hope in Christ helps me to realize that though I can’t control a situation, I know the One who does. You see, having hope is really a mindset of determination to believe that though everything looks as though it’s falling apart, we can still know that God has everything under control. We can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, but God can. Hope is knowing and trusting that God has plans for us. Hope is knowing without a shadow of a doubt that God loves us, and because of His great love for us, He will see us through this situation and any situation we encounter. Hope is knowing we will be spending eternity with our Savior. I truly hope that you all have a good day today! I know that I will because no matter what life throws at me, I know the One who is in control. My hope lies in Him!

Philippians 4:10-13 How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn’t have the chance to help me. Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

Yesterday was a pretty busy day here on the farm, but that isn’t anything new. We sold our sheep. We had so many things to do yesterday so we went out early to separate the goats and the sheep. If you don’t know this by now, let me just share with you that I am kind of a hard headed woman. We were able to get the sheep, goats, deer, and emu all in one stall of the barn. We can lead those critters anywhere with a bucket of feed. That stall was too small for that many critters so we had to separate the other animals from the sheep that were being sold. Jeff, my husband, was removing the goats, deer, and emu one at a time, and I was working the door. I forget (much too frequently for my own good) that I am not as strong as my husband and never will be, but I sure do give it a good try. As Jeff was sorting animals, our normally very sweet, gentle ram, Mr. Man, decided he wanted to slip out of the stall door with the other animals that we were removing. I grabbed him by the horns, and about that time, he rammed my left hand into the stall door and twisted my right wrist around with his big old ram horns. I’ve got a nice purple shiner on my hand this morning, but no major damage to be reported thankfully. My goat guy, Raymond, bought our whole herd. We’ve bought several goats and even a couple of pair of sheep from him in the past, but this is the first time He bought animals from us. He came to pick up the sheep, and we had a nice visit.

After the sheep were gone, we grabbed some lunch in town and ran a couple of errands, and then we really got to work. We put down new flooring in the living and dining room a couple of months ago, and the guys finally worked us in on their schedule to come put new flooring down in our bedroom. After cleaning the rest of the house, we began to work on preparing the bedroom for the floor guys. I already knew this fact (but confirmed it multiple times yesterday) we have some very heavy furniture in our bedroom! We moved an extra night stand upstairs, then we moved the chest of drawers, dresser and mirror, another night stand, and my jewelry armoire into the living room along with lamps and a variety of other items. We dusted, swept, and mopped, and worked our tails off, but we are prepared for the guys to arrive this morning.

While doing the activities of the day, my husband caught me doing more that what he thought I should several different times. He said, “KK don’t pick that up. That’s too heavy.” “KK let me handle the sheep.” “You are going to hurt yourself.” Y’all just have to know my husband. He is a big, strong farmer, and he is tough. He is much stronger than me, and for years, I’ve wished I could match his strength with my own just so I could keep up with him. Even though I can’t match his strength, I still try my best to keep up with him. I try to work just as hard. This morning, I woke up with the evidence that I should’ve listened a little more closely to his loving instructions. I should not have tried to man handle a full grown ram. I should not have picked up some heavy items without waiting for him to put down the heavy item he was moving. Yep, the proof is in the pudding so they say, but it is actually on my left hand, in my right knee, and in my right butt cheek! Yes, my hand is purple. When I got out of bed this morning, my right knee was so stiff, I could hardly walk on it, and my sciatica literally kicked my butt last night.

All of this could have been avoided had I listened to my husband and not been so stubborn. My husband was right there helping me all day and insisting that I let him do the heavy lifting, but my hard head said, “I can do this by myself.” I think that this is similar to our Christian walk many times. We think that we can do everything all by ourselves. We think that we have all the strength that is needed to accomplish the tasks that life presents us with, but just like this arthritic body announced to me loud and clear this morning, the events of our lives will remind us daily that we can NOT do this thing called life all alone. But Paul tells us in Philippians 4:13 that we CAN do ALL things with Christ who gives us strength. We must recognize that our strength does not come from our old tired bones. No, my friends, our strength comes from Christ, and if He ordains it, if He puts something on your heart to do, if He is in it, you will have all of the strength you need to accomplish anything that Christ wants you to accomplish. Just like my hubby, Christ is there to do the heavy lifting. He will clear a path. He will move mountains if necessary just so that you can do what He has planned for you.

We all make great plans. We try to work hard and do our best, and many times we find that our best is not good enough. We get hurt. We fall short. We may even think about giving up. We can’t give up though. We are still running the race, Peeps, but we aren’t running the race alone. Christ goes before us, and Christ goes with us. Don’t be a hard head and try to do life without Him. Life with Christ is so much better! If you are trying to do everything alone, you better get some help! Let Christ help you today.

This is a devotional I shared a year ago, but I thought it was a good reminder that needed repeating.

Psalm 77 I cry out to God; yes, I shout. Oh, that God would listen to me! When I was in deep trouble, I searched for the Lord. All night long I prayed, with hands lifted toward heaven, but my soul was not comforted. I think of God, and I moan, overwhelmed with longing for his help. You don’t let me sleep. I am too distressed even to pray! I think of the good old days, long since ended, when my nights were filled with joyful songs. I search my soul and ponder the difference now. Has the Lord rejected me forever? Will he never again be kind to me? Is his unfailing love gone forever? Have his promises permanently failed? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he slammed the door on his compassion? And I said, “This is my fate; the Most High has turned his hand against me.” But then I recall all you have done, O Lord; I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago. They are constantly in my thoughts. I cannot stop thinking about your mighty works. O God, your ways are holy. Is there any god as mighty as you? You are the God of great wonders! You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations. By your strong arm, you redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. When the Red Sea saw you, O God, its waters looked and trembled! The sea quaked to its very depths. The clouds poured down rain; the thunder rumbled in the sky. Your arrows of lightning flashed. Your thunder roared from the whirlwind; the lightning lit up the world! The earth trembled and shook. Your road led through the sea, your pathway through the mighty waters—a pathway no one knew was there! You led your people along that road like a flock of sheep, with Moses and Aaron as their shepherds.

“God is great. God is good. Let us thank Him for our food. By His hands we are fed. Thank you God for daily bread.” I loved hearing my children recite this well known prayer before meals when they were little, and now my heart delights in hearing my grandson, Jude, bless our meals. It is always a struggle as the little ones begin to learn to pray this little prayer. I heard “lettuce is good” instead of “let us thank Him for our food” many times as Jude first began to bless our meals a couple of years ago. Eventually, he got it right. Now, he speaks boldly as he prays, never missing a word. It’s such a simple little prayer, but many times I think as adults we forget just how great and how good God is.

The psalmist in Psalm 77 seems to think that God has withdrawn from him. He is distressed and down, and he cried out to the Lord. He knew he had to seek God, but he feared that God had forgotten him. But then, he began recognizing the greatness of God. He remembered how mighty and awesome God is, the miracles He performed, the redemption of His people, and the majesty of God. Today we are so busy worrying over this and that. We try to fix things in our own power. We put our faith in ourselves. We struggle. We fall. We see our nation falling. We wonder if God has forgotten us.

Whoa, y’all! This is when we need to really remember the greatness of God. We can do as the Psalmist did and start reflecting on all of the wondrous miracles in the Bible of long ago, but we can also begin reflecting on the day to day miracles and blessings our very good God has given us here and now. Maybe it feels like He left us because we left Him. Have you ever thought of that? We desire our human relationships to work so we work at them. We communicate with the ones we love. We talk to them as much as possible. We stay in touch. To have a relationship with Christ, we have to communicate with Him, talk to Him, and acknowledge His presence, His glory, and His goodness. You wouldn’t have a very good relationship with your spouse if you never talked to him/her or if you only focused on the bad things in life without ever seeing the good. God is always good. He is always great. He never leaves us. He is always there. He is still mighty. He is still on the throne. He is still for us. The God that created the heavens & the earth created you and I because He thought the world needed us.

If you are feeling far removed from Christ, start doing as the Psalmist did. Call out to God. Get up close and personal. Recognize how great God is and has been in your life. I realized a long time ago that I can’t even do one day of this thing called life without God. He is so very good to me!

Psalm 5:11-12 Let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them sing joyful praises forever. Spread your protection over them, that all who love your name may be filled with joy. For you bless the godly, O Lord; you surround them with your shield of love.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. 

Psalm 63:7-8 Because you are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your strong right hand holds me securely.

Trust is defined by Miriam Webster “to place confidence in someone or something and to be confident: HOPE.” As humans, trust is sometimes hard to earn, hard to keep, and it is even more difficult to get back once it is lost. Unfortunately, our human nature is bound up in sin. Although, for the most part, we try to deal honestly and treat others righteously, from time to time we falter because we are human. We aren’t perfect. We all make mistakes. When someone we loves does something so completely opposite of what we believe that person should do, we lose our trust in that person. That person becomes untrustworthy, and once a person has become untrustworthy in our eyes, it takes a lot of work for that person to regain the trust that was lost. Yet, our gracious God gives us a heart that is capable of forgiving and a brain that is capable of forgetting when we learn to place our trust fully in Him.

It is not only people that we have trust issues with. Life in general is filled with roadblocks that cause distrust. I am a very logical person. I think things through. I plan. I want to see the end result. I want to know that in my world 2 + 2 will always equal 4. It should, right? I love it when everything works out just like it is supposed to work out, however, that is not the reality of life. Life gets in the way of the equation. People get in the way of the equation. Things happen that cause us to fret. I like predictability, but I have learned that life is totally unpredictable. No matter how well I plan my future, I know that I must be prepared for a change of plans at any moment.

So how then do we deal with our issues of trust when everything is life seems unworthy of our trust? Ah, my friend, that is when we go back to the definition of trust: to place confidence in someone or something and to be confident: HOPE. But wait a minute! I just reminded us all that we can’t trust anything of this world. We can’t seem to place complete confidence in someone or something with confidence can we? Pay attention to the last word of that definition: HOPE. That is the key to our trust issues. We must remain hopeful. Yes, we can remain hopeful in humanity, and many times humanity won’t fail us, but there is One in whom we can place complete hope and trust in: our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Unlike our human family and friends, Jesus has made promise after promise, and He has never ever broken even one single promise. He lived a perfect, sinless life in human form, and He did the incomprehensible when He took on all of our sins that day on the cross. He did this greatest act of unconditional love for you and for me, and because He graciously suffered and died for our sins and resurrected on the third day just as He promised, we can place complete faith and trust in Him.

For God has said, “I will never fail you.  I will never abandon you.” So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear.  What can mere people do to me?” Hebrews 13:5-6 God said it. I believe it. He will never fail you. He will never abandon you. We can place full confidence in Him. He is our hope! If you are having trust issues today, go talk to the One who gives us that hope!

2 Samuel 22:3-4 My God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. He is my refuge, my savior, the one who saves me from violence. I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies.

Nahum 1:7 The Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in him.

My sweet husband, Jeff, worked offshore in the oil industry for much of his life. People who haven’t lived the oilfield life do not understand, but those who live it understand completely. I’ve had people in the past tell me that it must be wonderful having a husband with such a good job, one that makes good money, and one that is gone from home half the time. He did have a really good job, and he did make good money. I can’t argue that fact, but at what cost? He was gone anywhere from 21 to 32 days at a time only to return home for 21-26 days. The days at home flew by. The days he was gone seemed to last an eternity. He missed holidays, birthdays, and many celebrations. Life of an oilfield man is not the good life most think it to be.

Jeff worked hard for his company. He worked long hours, 21 to 28 twelve hour shifts in a row, but he never complained. He has always been such a hard working man. He didn’t mind the work, but we both hated for him to be away from home. I always knew that there was danger on the rig, but it wasn’t until one dreadful morning that the reality of the danger touched my very core. About eight years ago, at 6:00 am on a Wednesday morning, I received a text message from my dear husband that read, “Well blowing. Choppers on their way. Evacuating.” My heart sunk. I tried messaging him back. There was no response. I immediately sent messages and made phone calls to my dearest friends and prayer warriors and begged for prayers. I prayed. I cried. I fretted. And I waited…and waited…and waited. I didn’t hear back from him for almost three LONG hours. He told me that the problem was temporarily under control. They had evacuated 24 non-essentials, but my husband was not considered non-essential. He is definitely very essential to me! They continued to work on the problem for almost twelve hours, and I finally received word that the the problems was fixed and that the entire crew was safe.

That was a very long, very tiring, extremely emotional day, yet through it all, I was reminded once again of our gracious Lord’s love and protection. I was reminded how important life was, also how fragile it can be. During the long hours of waiting, my thoughts were consumed with memories of previous oil rig explosions, fires, and tragedies. I was reminded of just how deeply I loved my husband. Through it all, I prayed for protection…protection for my husband and the entire crew. But I wasn’t the only one praying. I had a whole army of prayer warriors praying with me, and my God, my sweet, gracious loving God, saw fit to answer those prayers of protection that day. Not one single crewman was injured.

I think back to this day now, and I praise God for answering those prayers of protection. He is so faithful to hear the prayers of an insignificant being like me. There have been so many times in my life that God has shielded and protected me from harm when I didn’t even know that He did it. He has slowed me down on a morning drive and prevented me from being involved in an accident. He has redirected my path over and over again. He has gently whispered in my ear. The Lord doesn’t merely love us, y’all, He also protects us! Psalm 34:19 tells us, “The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.” Therefore, if we are right with the Father, if we have accepted Christ as the ruler of our hearts, and we are truly living for Him. we can rest assured that though we will have trouble, the Lord will come to our rescue every time. His means of rescue may not quite look the way we pictured it each time, but He will rescue us for our own good and His glory! If you are struggling today and in need of rescue, call on the Giver of life. Come on, what are you waiting for? He’s waiting for your call right this very moment! Let Him rescue you too!