DAILY BIBLE DEVOTION

 

MY REFUGE, MY FORTRESS

When we are in trouble, where do

we turn? Is God our first thought?

Do we really believe that God is our

fortress, and our refuge? From the

beginning Scripture tells us to

trust in God. From Adam and Eve,

we find human beings want to

trust in themselves first. When we

fail, then we turn to God. Ever

wonder what it might be like to

turn to God first? If we turn to God

and place our trust in him, it would

save us a lot of unnecessary

anxiety. The key is trust. We need

to trust that God knows best, that

he is with us through whatever is

going on, that our prayers are

being heard. The difficulty is that

we think we know what's best and

we can get upset when God has

other plans. We pray and don't like

the answer, or don't want to wait

for the answer.

I remember a story once told me

about how we can miss God's

answer because it wasn't the

answer we wanted. A woman had

to work to pay her bills and her

mother got sick and needed full

time care. She prayed and prayed

that God would somehow take care

of her problem. She couldn't

continue to work and still be at

home with her mother. Then her

boss called her in and told her that

business had slowed down and he

needed to let her go temporarily

but that she was such a good

employee, he was willing to

continue to pay her during this

period. She went out of the office

and complained to God that he had

not answered her prayer but had

made things worse. She never saw

that she now had the money to pay

her bills as well as the time her

mother needed so that she could

heal. God doesn't always do what

we want, but he gives us what we

need. When we put things in God's

hands and don't keep trying to

take them back - we can relax

knowing that all will be well.

PRAYER

Lord, we say we trust in you but so

often we get impatient and forget

that you are there always at our

side. Help us in our times of trial to

hold on to that trust. Amen.