What Time I Am Afraid...

...I will trust in Thee.

Today, I was reading in Psalms and come across this verse. It brought back a flood of memories.

This short verse was once a Bible memory verse for two little girls in a Sunday school class. Those two little girls, my sister and I, were very imaginative. We saw monsters, ghosts, and even worse, the dreaded "unknown in the dark" everywhere. My family still teases me that I even thought there was a ghost in the toilet that would come up to get me if I didn't get away fast enough when it made the flushing sound. Every night I literally jumped into bed to avoid the long, hairy, clawed hand that might grab my ankle and pull me under the bed. My sister also had trouble with recurring nightmares about skeletons. Despite this, we would also tell scary stories of monsters that might come in the night to try to scare each other. It always worked so well, that we both would be frightened. One of these sleepless nights this little verse became a song for us. We repeated it over and over until falling into a deep, peaceful sleep.

Since that time, I've always loved the Psalms and would turn to it after being awoken by a nightmare (and being too big a girl to go wake up Mom), or when feeling overwhelmed by life, and, eventually, the inevitable responsibilities of adulthood.

After a chapter or two of praise and example after example of the love, tenderness, and faithfulness of God displayed in David's writings, such a peace that can't be explained comes over me. It's worth those moments of fear, doubt, and hurt to feel the prescence of the Almighty, the God who is the author of all creation, of worlds without end, but who is so near and is "touched with the feeling of our infirmities." There is nothing in this world like feeling the arms of the almighty God around you, comforting you and resting your head on his chest listening to the beating of his heart.

This is how I know that my God is real; because I've spent time with him. He reveals himself to me in so many ways. Everyday he speaks to me through his creation, in the joyful song he puts in my heart, and in the beautiful truth of his Word.

Truly, What a friend we have in Jesus!

-Jayne