Fearless Trust In God

As I write this, the Douglas firs surrounding our home are swaying wildly to and fro against a reddish smoke-thick sky, dropping fir cones across our deck like hail and showering loose branches across the driveway with each new gust. The air is thick with smoke from a Christmas tree farm down Baker Road that began burning last night, and sirens blare every so often as fire trucks speed past.

I just received a text from a friend asking for prayer as she evacuates her Newberg home, and I have been lifting friends and friends of friends in prayer all day as the emails come in: the pastor and his wife along the Santiam River whose home and church burned to the ground last night, the couple who had to evacuate their Salem home so quickly that they didn't have time to find their kitty, the cousin in Mulino whose home is now surrounded on all sides by slow-burning fires. Friends, join me in bringing before the Lord our anxiety, our despair, our sorrow, our helplessness. Tonight is not a night to give into fears but to step forward boldly in faith that the Lord is in control. How can you help? Whom can you check on? How can you pray?

As you ponder, I challenge you to find a moment to step outside your home and read David's words in Psalm 27 aloud to the smoky skies. The NIV translation titles this psalm "A Psalm of Fearless Trust in God," which is precisely where we need to be resting in moments like these:

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the defense of my life;
Whom shall I dread?
When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh,
My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell.
Though a host encamp against me,
My heart will not fear;
Though war arise against me,
In spite of this I shall be confident.

One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord
And to meditate in His temple.
For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle;
In the secret place of His tent He will hide me;
He will lift me up on a rock.
And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me,
And I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.

Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice,
And be gracious to me and answer me.
When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You,
“Your face, O Lord, I shall seek.”
Do not hide Your face from me,
Do not turn Your servant away in anger;
You have been my help;
Do not abandon me nor forsake me,
O God of my salvation!
For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
But the Lord will take me up.

Teach me Your way, O Lord,
And lead me in a level path
Because of my foes.
Do not deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries,
For false witnesses have risen against me,
And such as breathe out violence.
I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the Lord.

Be strong and let your heart take courage,

Jennie