The Solid Rock

There is a verse I have always found interesting. The Apostle Paul said in 2Corinthians, “we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears.“  I don't think much about the Apostle Paul having fears within.

But all of us at some time in our lives, are tempted to fear.  Many may not know of our temptations to fear because we so often keep these fears bottled up inside of us.  I don’t know about you, but I always felt if I said it aloud, it was more likely to happen!  Sometimes we feel powerless to know how to deal with these fears and even seem overpowered by them.

Now I am going to confess to you, there are things I am tempted to be afraid of.  I am tempted to be afraid of the dark.  I always, ALWAYS, have a flashlight with me.  I also don’t want to be in constrained places.  Just thinking of them gives me the temptation to be afraid.

When I give in to these fears, and their myriads of brothers and sisters, when I allow them to rule my life, to overtake my thought, to let the “what ifs” reign in my heart, there are things I can be sure of. 

I can be sure I won’t know the rest the Lord Jesus has promised us, and I won’t be living in a way that glorifies the Lord Jesus as I would if I trusted Him and rested in Him.   

If my thoughts and emotions are centered on the thing I am tempted to fear, then I cannot be “looking unto Jesus the Author  and Finisher of our faith.”  If I have let my imagination run wild with the thoughts of the fears, then I won’t be experiencing the “Peace of God which passeth understanding.” 

Mostly, if I let the fear reign in my life, I am in essence saying that the Lord Jesus isn’t big enough for that particular situation in my life.  He can’t supply there, or He can’t sustain me there.

Many times in my life the temptations are, “what if this happens, what will I do?” 

Since the time I was sixteen, one of those “what ifs” was losing my Daddy.  My Daddy was my core, that person I went to for strength.  I was tempted to fear his death for 24 years. 

On March 18, 1997 my Daddy unexpectedly went to be with the Lord.  I can tell you today, the Lord was found to be trustworthy then.  He was everything I needed in that situation.  He was my Hope, as the Apostle Paul said the “Lord Jesus Christ, who is our hope.”

He was my Peace, the Scriptures say “He is our peace.”  In Him I found Rest,  and through my tears, He was my Joy.

Sometimes the “what if” is “what if I something happens to my child?  Or what if I lose a child?”  If you are a mother, you know that fear.  I have had temptations to that fear with all of my children.  I still do.  With a son deployed with the United States Marine Corps, those temptations are quick to come.

On October 5, 1988, we experienced the pain of looking at an ultrasound screen and being told the baby we were expecting was not going to be.  The Lord was trustworthy in that situation, too. 

He was everything we needed.  He was our Hope.  He was our Peace.  In the midst of bitter tears, He was our rest.

There are fears and temptations that whisper at me still today, almost every day.  Only sometimes they don’t whisper, they shout and scream.   But I have something I can scream back, and you can scream back at yours, too.

I can scream back that the Lord Jesus Christ is trustworthy. No matter how great the storm, our Resting Place is secure.  We rest in the Solid Rock of the Lord Jesus Christ and He has been, is and will forever be all we need.  He is greater than any situation that may come into our lives.

He will always be trustworthy, He will be exactly what we will need Him to be in every situation and He will keep our hearts in peace. There is nothing or no one who can or will fulfill the needs of our hearts but Him.  Not spouse or child or job or house or even ministry.  If we are looking out to the future for something to fulfill us, we are looking in the wrong place.

The Lord Jesus alone can fulfill our hearts.  When believe this, we will know peace, because if we have accepted the Lord Jesus as our Savior, we can never Lose the One thing we need to fulfill our hearts, because we can never lose Him.

When our oldest daughter was in college, she studied Italian and wrote a life motto in Italian, "Avede le fede in Deo sempre bene vivremo", or "Have faith in God always and we shall live well."

I was so inspired by her motto I decided to write one of my own. Our youngest daughter was homeschooling at the time and we were studying French,  so mine is in French,

 “La confiance dans le Seigneur toujours et lui ayant nous avons tous.” Or  "Trust in  the Lord always for having Him we have all."

Having Him we have all.  We can always trust Him knowing we shall live well.

We have a Solid Rock  to cling to no matter how  fierce the storm. 

We have One who gives a Song no matter how dark the night. 

We have a Fountain springing no matter how dry the desert.   

Having Him we have all.

He is our Hope.

He is our Peace.

And in Him, we rest.