"I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety. For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave. You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.

~ A prayer of David.

Psalm 16:8-11

(New Living Translation) 

The skies darkened and the winds howled at our house. We waited out the storms in our basement with friends, nervously chattering, anxiously watching the weather maps and the skies. Knowing that the storms had lay waste towns in its path, we waited. Then the rain started, the thunder boomed, and the hail hit like stones pummeling the house and pavement. Finally, the silence fell as the wind subsided and the rain slowed. We had weathered the storm by the grace of God, giving thanks for having made it, yet not knowing about the destruction that possibly awaited us outside.

The hard part of waiting is not knowing what to expect, but even in the darkest nights, whether from physical storms howling around us or from the storms that batter our bodies and hearts, we have a choice of how we face them. We can fear them and allow them to dig deeply into our souls, planting discouragement and bitterness, or we can say with the Psalmist,

"I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken for he is right beside me!"

Trusting in God for whatever storms we face is as easy as breathing the words or thinking the thought, "Jesus, please help me." I have a friend who once talked about being in a place so dark and fearful that she could only breathe the name "Jesus," and so she said that name over and over, and God heard the cries of her hurting heart even in the times when she could not mentally or verbally form a prayer. God hears our hearts. God knows our fears, and when we trust in the Lord, we too can know the joy of the presence of the Lord in every situation.

Will you trust in the Lord in whatever you face today?

Rev. Jan McCoy is the associate pastor of Covington First United Methodist Church in downtown Covington. She may be reached at jan.mccoy@ngumc.net.