“Even if I pass through death-dark ravines, I will fear no disaster; for you are with me; your rod and staff reassure me.” (Psalm 23:4, Complete Jewish Bible)
Fear suddenly comes upon you. Your stomach churns as if you had just been punched in the gut. Panic wants to overtake you. Your head spins, looking for a quick solution to get you out of the mess you just found yourself in. What in the world are you going to do? Where can I run? Who can I call? What do you do?
You trust in the One whom you have trusted in thus far. You call on the Name of the Lord Jesus.
When I woke up this morning I had just gotten a text message from a friend who is newlywed. (I keep my phone on silent when I go to bed. Smart thing to do. Derek Prince, the great Bible teacher whom I was honored to serve on his ministry staff for eight years, often said, “There are no emergencies in the kingdom of God.”) They got married in her country, went on a fantastic honeymoon in another country, but when they came back to cross over into his homeland to start their new life together, they were stopped at the border. The paperwork hadn’t been done as it was supposed to have been done. She couldn’t cross over.
They were then told it was going to take much legal paperwork, several months, and could cost thousands of dollars. Dollars they didn’t have. Bills they never dreamed of having to be paid on the road ahead. The unexpected had just happened.
How many times have we faced challenges and circumstances when the impossible was facing us, and we didn’t know where to turn, who to call, or what to do next. We seemed frozen with fear, which itself wanted to keep us there. But that is when we need to stand on His Word – that He never leaves us, never forsakes us, never lets the enemy have the final victory.
All of us have faced these situations. A traumatic car accident; a tragic turn of events; an impossible place in our life when it looks as if we have been forsaken, forgotten about, and left standing alone. That is where and when we need to stand on His Word.