Our grey tabby cat, Joey Been, was so called as truly it seemed he had
been everywhere. A born adventurer we never knew where we might find him
next. One day however Joey and his whereabouts really took me by
surprise.
It was just an ordinary winter's day and I was driving
along our rural road on my way into town when I kept hearing a strange,
unaccountable noise emitting from my van. What is that, I kept asking
myself, I've never heard a vehicle make such a strange noise. Slowing
down in the hopes of pinpointing the source and identifying it, was to
no avail, in fact the weird yowling seemed to increase as the speed
decreased. Finally I decided to pull over and pop the hood for a peek.
My surprise and shock when I opened the driver's door and hopped
out, only to find Joey Been clinging frantically to the roof of my van
is to this day difficult to describe. And how Joey had ever been able to
stay atop that shiny, smooth metal roof as I was cruising along at 50
miles per hour on a bumpy back road is beyond me, but stay atop he did
until I reached up and rescued my terrified, shaking, wild-eyed pet.
Today or one day in the future you or I may also find ourselves
taking a ride: A ride in life which may not be of our choosing. This
ride may be one which seeks to strike confusion, fear, even terror into
our hearts, one which truly causes us to wonder if we will survive it.
War, death, sickness, homelessness and natural disasters, are all
examples of life's rides which can and often do bring about such
emotions. And yet as the psalmist has penned:
"God is our refuge
and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore we will not
fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of
the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with
their surging."
What a marvelous promise, one to cling to with
tenacity when the rides of this life cause us to feel totally vulnerable
and afraid, for God is indeed with us, an ever present help in trouble.
The very same God who spoke to the Jeremiah and declared:
For I
know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future.
We may not know what form
those plans or that future may take, earthly or heavenly, but we can by
faith, choose to trust God in his mercy and goodness amidst our
situation, knowing that as we do so, peace will replace fear, confusion,
even terror, and that we will indeed arrive safely and soundly at
exactly the right destination God has prepared for us.
Prayer:
Father God, thank you that in your mercy and goodness you recognize what
frail and frightened creatures we are and can be. Thank you not only for
the truth of your written word but especially for the presence of your
living word, Jesus Christ in our lives, every minute of every day. Open
our eyes that we might see him. Open our ears that we might hear him.
Open our hearts that we might embrace him, enabling us to rest in peace
and safety amidst whatever ride in life may come our way today or in the
future. In his wonderful name we pray. Amen.
Lynne Phipps
Atlin, B.C.