This may seem amusing, but I’m sure some of the men reading this can relate…at least I hope you can. One night several months ago my wife and I were watching tv. Actually I was watching tv and she was sleeping. I was sitting in my favorite recliner and all of the sudden I hear this weird noise. So just like any guy would do I turned the tv’s volume up and went about watching my program. If I can’t hear the noise, it’s not really there, right?
Well, the noise came back, I heard it again. At this point I woke my wife up and told her to listen. Of course, no noise. Figures, that’s usually what happens. You take your car to the mechanic because it’s making a weird noise or something is wrong, only to find out that what you thought was a problem isn’t visible to the expert, and the car miraculously seems fine. Just when I think I’m going crazy we both hear it. It sounded like something or someone was upstairs. I knew at this point I had to be the man of the house and investigate, so I told my wife to go check it out. Now I thought about giving her my semi-automatic hand gun, but I was afraid she’d shoot me. I found a broom stick and armed her with that. I kept the gun for myself. I figured if whatever was upstairs got past her I’d need something to defend myself.
We figured out that a cat had gotten under the house and was banging against some duct work. Now I know what some of you are thinking…”how does a cat underneath the house sound like something or someone upstairs?” I’m not sure how a cat underneath the house made the noise sound like it was coming from upstairs…maybe it was a magic cat, I don’t know, but don’t judge me unless you were there. The next day my neighbor came knocking on my door asking if we’d seen their cat…I said “no”. Just kidding, no cat was harmed, although truth be told it did cross my mind.
The point of this story is that sometime in life we get scared. Scared of not knowing what tomorrow might bring. Scared of not knowing where we’ll get the money to pay the next bill. Scared about the possibility of the bad news the doctor may deliver. Scared about being a single parent. There are so many things in our daily lives that we fear or worry about, and often we forget that the Lord is right there with us. In His word there are several examples of this;
In Isaiah 41:10 the Lord says “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
In Haggai 1:13, we read this; Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people: “I am with you,” declares the Lord.
Matthew 28:19 says; “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.”
Sometimes it’s hard when times are tough or bad things happen to us, but we need to understand that God is always with us. When we start to recognize that He is there, things seem to not be as bad as they first appeared. The maker of the universe is walking with you through all the bad stuff you’re going through, and his hand is outstretched, being offered to you to take hold. Put your trust and faith in him, and good things will happen. We have no reason to be scared when the One who created us is holding our hand.
God Bless,
Disciple