When life is scary- God is good! (His Encouragement #28)

This post is part of the weekly series, “His Encouragement: Thursday Thoughts to Strengthen Your Soul.” 

Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust and not be afraid.
The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense[a];
he has become my salvation.”
With joy you will draw water
from the wells of salvation.

-Isaiah 12.2-3

When life is scary….

This year, our theme for Vacation Bible School is, “ROAR- God’s Safari!” We are doing VBS in a way that is very different from  what our church has done in the past. This year we are having Family Nights every Wednesday night for six weeks. during July and August. The fun starts with a family meal and then there are activities for both adults and kids. The evening closes with a puppet show and music time. I know that the kids are having a great time and the parents also seem to be enjoying themselves. I know that I’m having a blast! 

This week, we discussed the scary things in life. We asked the children to list things that frightened them and many of the children said, “spiders,” “snakes,” or “the dark.” I have to admit, even though I am an adult, I still have a terrible fear of spiders. Even just looking at a picture of a spider makes my skin crawl! I often joke that I would have been perfectly content if Noah would have left the spiders off of the ark.

God is good! 

Although I find them frightening, spiders have an important role to play in the environment. Spiders are very important to our ecosystem because they help to control the pest population. Spiders will even sometimes eat other spiders! Also, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, only a small number of spiders are actually dangerous to humans.(less than one-tenth one percent have actually been responsible for human deaths). 

The existence of spiders does not make God any less good. As adults, we are often afraid of things that are even more terrifying than spiders. Many of us are afraid of death, losing a loved one, becoming ill, or dying alone. God did not promise us that our lives would be easy; however, the Psalmist tells us that even during the darkest and most frightening times of our lives, God is with us.

Sometimes life will be scary. We will face things more frightening then spiders. But even during our scariest times, God is always with us. No matter what scares us, we can face life bravely because God is good and God is always with us!

Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me. 

-Psalm 23.4a

 

 

Until Next Time,

-Rev. Rebecca

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This post is part of the series, “His Encouragement: Thursday Thoughts to Strengthen Your Soul.”

Now, it’s your turn! What Scripture verse is inspiring you this week? Let me know in the comments below!

Thursdays are always a really long day of the week for me. As a pastor, Sunday feels like the natural beginning of my week. By the time I get to Thursday, I am tired and drained. That’s why I’m excited to join with a group of blogging friends in order to offer you a weekly devotional which will be posted every Thursday.

Please be sure to check out the other great bloggers involved in the His Encouragement weekly series!