In life's very challenging moments, I always turn to God to uplift and sustain me and get me through whatever is happening. One of the ways I do this is to set my Bible on edge, pray over it, and then ask God to open it to the passage he wants me to read. It has never failed to give me the encouragement I needed in the moment - not one single time.
Those who love me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know my name. When they call to me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble; I will rescue them and honor them. With long life I will satisfy them and show them my salvation.
Does this guarantee us a trouble free life? On the contrary. The Christian life has never been trouble free. What it does guarantee is that as we face the storms of life, God is there with us. As long as we are on this mortal plane, we are in the depths of sinful human choices. We can't run away from them. We can't pretend they don't exist. We can't excuse ourselves from the bad decisions of others, or our own bad choices. We are not exempt from the turmoil that comes with daily living in a fallen world.
But God is with us. He will give our deepest emotions and hardest moments a shelter from whatever life is throwing our way. And at the end, God will show those who know his name his salvation. That is his promise and my future.
