I walked while the glow of the sunset gave way to the twilight of this fall evening. Darkness fell. Still I walked on, unwilling to end the private conversation I was having with my Heavenly Father. Somehow, I find it easier to pour my heart out when I am outdoors and I can look up to view the vastness of the sky overhead. So I continued on.

A friend was on my mind and I felt overwhelmed just imagining what she is dealing with currently. So taking seriously God’s instruction to “always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people” – I kept on walking and I kept on praying for my friend. I prayed that God would protect her and that He would lift up her head and her spirits.

“But You are a shield around me, O Lord; You bestow glory on me and lift up my head.” (Psalm 3:3)

Sometimes I find that I am so weary, so fearful, fatigued, discouraged and defeated that I can’t even lift up my own head. I am downcast not just spiritually, but in my physical posture as well. That’s why I think this Psalm is so beautiful and so apt. When I am too weak to lift up my own head, my loving, gracious Heavenly Father does this for me. Why do I need to lift up my head? Because I need to shift my focus away from my circumstances and my surroundings toward the One who knows all that has caused me to become downcast, the One who is sovereign over all things, including my circumstances and my surroundings. I need to be able to look to God, but in order to do that, I have to lift up my head. In those times when I cannot even do this on my own, my Heavenly Father intercedes oh so gently, becoming the Lifter of my head. Then I can say with the psalmist –

“I lift up my eyes to the hills – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let my foot slip – He who watches over me will not slumber; indeed, He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.” (Psalm 121:1-4)

That’s why I need my head lifted. I need to be able to see my Creator in His creation and to be reminded that my help comes from Him. I need to remember that I am not alone, He is always with me. It is no small thing to have my focus turned to God. The psalmist said –

“One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.” (Psalm 27:4)

Being able to “gaze upon the beauty of the Lord” – that makes all the difference in times of trouble and turmoil. Not losing sight of my Heavenly Father allows me to keep going during the darkest of days. The psalmist knows this and says –

“For in the day of trouble He will keep me safe in His dwelling; He will hide me in the shelter of His tabernacle and set me high upon a rock.” (Psalm 27:5)

How often I need to be rescued from the storms of life and “set high upon a rock.”! I often feel like I am drowning, overwhelmed with the pain, brokenness and loss we each experience in this life. Sometimes the wind and the waves seem insurmountable to us, even though they are not too much for God. Peter experienced this literally one stormy night at sea in a boat with the other disciples.

“Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of Him to the other side, . . . When evening came . . . the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.” (Matthew 14:22-24)

Now during the night, Jesus walked out to the boat on the water, filling the disciples with fear. But Peter asked that he might walk on the water to meet Jesus and we read what happened next –

“Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and caught him.” (Matthew 14:29-31)

Did you catch that? Peter saw the wind, not Jesus, (and no doubt the waves the wind was producing too) and Peter became filled with fear. It was then that Peter began to sink. Peter took his eyes off of Jesus and focused on his current circumstances instead. Peter was not walking on still, calm waters. He was surrounded by strong winds and high waves. Peter was in the middle of a storm in the middle of a sea in the middle of the night. BUT – Peter was not alone. Jesus was right there. Peter had only to cry out and Jesus responded by reaching out His hand and rescuing Peter.

I’m praying my friend will experience a rescue like Peter’s as she walks through her stormy waters, struggling to keep from sinking beneath life’s constant waves. But Jesus is in this storm with her and His presence brings comfort, courage, peace and hope – all the essentials for surviving the storms of life. I wonder if my friend feels what I so often feel. One minute I’m walking on water, the next I’m drowning beneath the waves. From triumph to tragedy in an instant – that’s life. But we are not alone. We have this assurance –

“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.” (Psalm 46:1-3)

Because God is our ever-present help in trouble, we have hope. Tonight, I am praying this for my friend –

that as she hopes in the Lord, He will renew her strength. I pray she will soar on wings like the eagles, that she will run and not grow weary, that she will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

I will pray this for all of us as we fight the good fight of faith –

sincerely, Grace Day