Psalm 28: 7

"The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart exults, and with my song I shall thank Him."

For most of those who will be reading this post, today is the first day of school. Young mothers are taking their babies to kindergarten and crying all the way home. Older moms are praying their college student can get up by themselves and make it to class. I'm in the post-group smiling to myself as I remember with fondness those days long past. I can smile because I made it through those days. And I made it through them because the Lord truly was my strength and shield.

There is nothing like experience to learn trust. As we walk with God daily we begin to build a relationship with Him. When we start out on our walk with Him we tend to be trusting and full of passion. Then life hits us between the eyes and we stumble - we didn't see that coming. We are shocked. Where was God? What happened? For a little bit we are disoriented to the ways of God and we are rocked in our faith. For most of us, that hit wasn't catastrophic and we get up and move on. Then after a seemingly brief spot of peace - here it comes again. Another whomp. Again we stagger. Again we question. And so on and so on. Sometimes we get up doggedly and move on. Other times we wallow in self-pity for a while and then get up. And then there are times we just refuse to get up at all. Despite God's words to the contrary, we feel duped.

But notice with me that the psalmist didn't say the Lord intervened for him - he said he (the psalmist) trusted and he was helped. He didn't say he got out of trouble. He didn't say that his circumstances changed. He said he chose to trust. I wrote a few weeks ago that things are not always as they seem. That is especially true when it comes to trouble in the life of a believer. I was sharing with a young woman last week about her breast cancer. I explained to her that as bad as it looked from her perspective God had a plan that was far-reaching. She had no clue what He was doing through her diagnosis. Her part was to cooperate with Him - fully and acutely aware that He was in control and working out her disease for her good and His glory.

If we choose trust, we will be helped. If we choose trust, our hearts will exult. I think that means faith will rise up and flood our heart and the result will be a song of thanks. Thanks in, not for the trouble. Thanks for the good God promises to brings from it (Romans 8:28). Thanks for our God who deemed us worthy to suffer for His sake. Thanks for the faith that will grow because we have walked with Him through good times and bad.

Sometimes it's a seemingly small matter - like depositing that little 5 yo in kindergarten and other times it's surrendering one to the earth in a coffin. God is in it all sweet sisters. He IS faithful. He does love you. He did not miss you because His attention was in Iraq or the presidential race. He is acutely interested in you. Madly in love with you. Doggedly guarding over you. When you and I truly believe that and take it to heart we will stand firm, rise above and sing....a new song.