Friday, October 2, 2009

God is Good!

Yesterday I posted Psalm 46, one of my favorite psalms as it reminds me to rest in the character and promises of God. "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted..."
"God is our refuge and strength; a very present help in trouble."

When I think refuge, I think of a place where one can hide-- from a storm, from a battle... perhaps someone hiding from an enemy in an inner chamber of an old castle or monastery. God has granted us to be able to "hide" in Him-- He provides shelter and protection in the storms of life. When the storms of trial or temptation break over you, you can flee to Him to hide you. He is so good!

When I think strength, I think of a soldier in battle, growing weary, perhaps, or unable to stand against an enemy so much stronger than himself. We are in a battle. There is an enemy stronger than ourselves, and sometimes we feel like we have been fighting so long and so hard, and that we cannot go on anymore. That is when we must acknowledge our weakness to God and go to HIM for our strength. He is the God who created and sustains the world by the world of His power. He is stronger than our strongest foe. We can trust Him!

"A very present help" can also we translated, "a well-proved help." God is both! For one thing, He is always present to help us. To those who follow Him, He has said "I will never leave you nor forsake you." He is also well-proved. When has He ever broken His word? When has He ever failed to keep His promises? The question is rhetorical; the answer is "never". Day by day, God continues to prove to us His love, His mercy, His justice, His patience, His greatness, His power, and His faithfulness. Therefore, we can go to Him and trust Him in times of trouble!

This week He has proved again that He is the help of those who seek Him.

Perhaps you have heard of the earthquake in the South Pacific, and of the predicted tsunamis. When Mommy told me about them, we were concerned for our many missionary friends in the area of Fiji and American Samoa. We have been praying for their safety in the face of these impending dangers.

This morning, we got an update from Scott and Katie, who are missionaries in American Samoa.

Dear Praying Friends,

I am sure that most of you have heard that American Samoa and
Samoa experienced an earthquake at 6:45 a.m. local time. Fifteen minutes
later a tsunami struck parts of the islands. We only felt the
earthquake where we live. We live in the middle of the island and
farther inland. Several other spots were totally devastated. Boats
were taken out of the water and placed on the land. Cars were left in
the sides of buildings. Houses and buildings were flattened. Some
areas were only flooded, while some had 15-20 foot waves hit them. All
of our church members are okay, but everyone seems to know someone
either killed or injured by the tsunami. Thank you to everyone who has
inquired about our safety. We know that it could of been much worse.
Please continue to pray for the people here, especially those who have
lost loved ones and lost everything they owned. We keep on reminding
the people of God's goodness and grace to help in time of need.

Serving our Lord,

Scot and Katie Daku

Isn't God good? He is our refuge, our strength, an ever-present, well-proved help in times of trouble. We can trust Him!

"Be still and know that I am God." Know that He is in control, guiding the events of life for His glory and our good. "The Lord our hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge."

1 comment:

Margaret Dashwood said...

Great post Melanie!!

Bethany