“The Lord is my light and my salvation—
    whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
    of whom shall I be afraid?” – Psalm 27:1

Psalm 27 has always  been one of my favorites for any occasion, but especially when I’m dealing with what seem to be things I can’t deal with. You know those times that you feel swept out to sea, and like you’re in the middle of an enormous storm and the waves are 100 feet high, and your boat is tiny? That’s how life can get sometimes when you look at the stresses and challenges of having a family, finances, a job, inner struggles, and friends, on top of everything else.

Those waves seem to get bigger and bigger, and the darkness makes it hard to even remember where you were trying to go, much less to get there. I know I have felt like that so many times since my Mom died, my Dad got sick, and I started my own business. Throw in heartbreaks and car troubles and friend drama and catching my belt loop on the doorknob at EXACTLY the wrong time and that’s it. I’m done.

But in that monsoon, if I will quit focusing on the waves and the wind and the rain (all of which we know He can calm with a word if He wants to) and scan the horizon, there’s a lighthouse. He is our light and our salvation in this stormy sea of life.

Now I remember where I’m going. Turn the rudder by turning to His word and looking for what He says about your situation. Fix your sails by reaching back out to Him and letting Him remind you that this battle is His, not yours.

In Exodus 13:21-22, “The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.”

Your guidance is before you. Jesus did not endure the cross and hell simply to let you get lost in some fleeting storms. He will not depart from before you, but you have to keep your eyes on the horizon and your hands on the wheel.

Whom shall I fear? I think we already know the answer to that. He told us 365 times “Do not be afraid.” I don’t see any qualifiers, do you? ❤️