And She Was Sore Afraid..... By Laura MacCorkle

 And She Was Sore Afraid

By Laura MacCorkle

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? …For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock … I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.  - Psalm 27:1,5,13-14

Sorry, there's no catchy intro for today's devotional. No special personal story to tease. No witty comments to keep you invested. Just some raw and unrefined honesty. And here it is:

I am afraid.

Yes, I am afraid. Perhaps it's a result of spending too much time watching cable news in the past week or so. Or maybe it's due to the fact that so many friends and family and acquaintances of mine are experiencing hard times right now as well: job loss, illnesses, marital failures, devastating sin issues, home foreclosures and on and on.

I confess that I have found myself mired in the hopelessness and despair of it all. And I am sad and feel very small. Does anything really matter any more? Is my witness making a difference? Is God really in control of all of this? Does he care? And is the world just going to crash and burn anyway?

I know that this is where the enemy wants to keep me: stuck in my fear with emotions and dismal circumstances blurring my vision. He doesn't want me to remember that I have a lifeline—the hope for eternity that is found in God's Word.

I know I can't be the only one who has been "sore afraid" as of late. And perhaps these verses will encourage you today as well. When we focus on the Lord instead of whatever or whomever makes us afraid, we can be confident in he who is our light and our salvation and the stronghold of our lives.

Intersecting Faith & Life: Are you afraid? What is causing you to forget who God is and how he has provided—and will continue to provide—in your life? Spend some time meditating on Psalm 23, and remember that the Lord is the great shepherd of the sheep and that HE is watching over you!

Further Reading:

Psalm 18:3
Isaiah 43:2
Matthew 10:29-31
Hymn: "My Hope is in the Lord"
Composer: Norman J. Clayton (1945)