¹ God is our refuge and strength,
    an ever-present help in trouble.
(Psalm 46:1)

*******************************************

**The young mother tries desperately to find a moment to herself behind the bedroom door—as her young toddler knocks incessantly and the baby cries loudly and louder out to her. Never a moment. Door opening.

**An elderly man, who just lost his wife, strives to raise himself from his chair to get to the kitchen and make a meal—but falls back, too short of breath. Not tonight.

**A father of five rushes to his second job, working too late to see his children before they are sound asleep and leaving too early in the morning before they awaken. Aging faster than his 35 years. Missing the sounds and moments with his children.

**A teen girl, the subject of whispers and laughter, walks to her locker at school, head down. Reaching the locker door, she opens it to stare at the girl in the mirror with tear-smudged makeup. The locker door slams against her back. Passing laughter. Tears in the mirror.

**The college student struggles, trying to keep up with grades, athletics for his scholarship, and the social life in the fraternity.  Once again, he thrusts a needle into his arm, the hype less each time. Wanting to be free. Needing more.

************************************

Waves crash against the shore;

We walk into the storm,

Assured of our own stamina;

Winds lash out pummeling us.

Pushing ahead through it all,

We are winning—until a pebble

Becomes lodged in our shoe.

Something so small, yet powerful,

Constant, nagging pain as we move.

Day after day struggle in our life walk,

Dealing with the pebble, always there,

More difficult than storms that subside.

Where is the relief from each day?

“God is our refuge and strength.”

*************************************

It is the day-after-day struggles in our lives that can be the most difficult to deal with on a regular basis. The pebble in our shoe seems to grow into a rock by day’s end.

But God is always there, “an ever-present help in trouble.” We need Him as we go through the larger storms that assail. But it is in the everyday moments of difficulty where we come to truly know Him and learn that we need to depend on Him always.

²⁹ He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
³¹ but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

(Isaiah 40:29-31)

       (Sharon G. Tate blog 05/06/2018) teacherforjesus.com  Meditations on God’s Word