“I keep the Lord
before me always. Because He is close by
my side, I will not be hurt.” – Psalm 16:8
Snowpocalypse
2014 (the name for the South’s crazy snow/ice storm) will be one for the record
books. Kids stuck overnight in schools,
interstates turned into parking lots, people welcoming strangers into their
homes for food and warmth, and lots and lots of snow and ice…these are the
takeaways from these crazy few couple of days here in the South. It’s been crazy to read all the posts and see
all the pictures from my friends in Birmingham/Hoover and Atlanta. Many people were separated from their loved
ones for over 24 hours…how crazy! I had a
good amount of snow and ice where I live too, but I live in an area that sees
this kind of weather every so often….Birmingham, not so much.
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| An interstate in Birmingham....a casualty of the 2014 Snowpocalypse. |
I’m sure as many people slid on ice or were stranded on the interstate for 20+ hours God was hearing a lot of these kinds of prayers, “God, stay with me and please don’t let me get hurt!” David (although he wasn’t in a snowstorm) could relate to these people because he said in his psalm, “I keep the Lord before me always. Because he is close by my side, I will not be hurt” (Psalm 16:8). David knew that with the Lord’s provision and protection, everything would be okay. How sweet it is that as believers in Christ we are able to have this knowledge that our God goes with us, and stays close beside us.
God is SO
gracious to give us the things we need…protection, peace, love, and the list
goes on and on; but we must remember that we need to give Him things He
deserves too and those include worship, thanksgiving, love, trust, and that
list goes on and on. In fact David asks
God for protection and couples that with the fact that he has placed his trust
in Him, “Protect me, God, because I trust
in you” (Psalm 16:1). When we place
our trust in and give thanksgiving to God, He will give us the protection,
peace, safety, and help we need.
This blog
post wouldn’t have been so personal until just a few hours ago, however, as I
realized just how much this verse and message means to me today. On our way home tonight, we crossed an
intersection after our light turned green.
When we made it halfway through the intersection, we heard a loud bang
behind us. A car had run their red light
and crashed head-on into the car that was directly behind us. We were literally one second away from being
hit and totaling our car. But, “He [was] close by our side, [and we were] not hurt.” Thank you,
God. Immensely.
Situations
like what I experienced tonight or like the snowpocalypse will arise again in life
and we must not let our worries or fears grip us in those moments. We must remember that our God is before us
always and will be close to our side every step of the way. In those moments, He is all you need. Believe Him, thank Him, and trust Him.
David said
it best, “The Lord is all I need. He takes care of me” (Psalm 16:5). No matter what the circumstance…even a
snowpocalypse…He will do just that.
