refuge

I'm not much for keeping up with the news. For the most part, it unnerves and/or irritates me. I generally let my husband track the news and fill me in on what's going on. Sometimes even his summary reports make me nervous. In an election year, the irritation/fear factor rises even higher.

Last evening my husband and I were having a discussion about the sorry financial state of the country, and I felt that familiar surge of dread well up inside. Sometimes it seems that things are so out of control that there is no hope for the future. I don't want to think about what that means for my children.

Here's the amazing part. Right in the middle of this conversation, Sydney came over and stood next to the table where we were talking. I asked her what she needed, and she responded that she had finished learning her memory verse for the week and wanted to recite it. I said OK, and here's what she said:

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.
(Psalm 46:1-2)

I complimented her on her memory skill, but I was struck by the timing of that message right to the situation I was in. The nervousness went away. In my focus on the depth of humanity's problems I had forgotten the big picture. He's in control. I belong to Him. And even if the earth gives way around me, He's still there.