My God, in Whom I Trust

Recently there was a tornado warning in Tell City. After the storm
passed, I called my mother in Oklahoma, which is where I grew up. I
told her we all spent the afternoon in the basement, playing with
Legos and watching a movie. The kids were never frightened, despite my listening to the weather forecast while storm sirens constantly
howled. I had told them there was a tornado, but we knew we were safe.

As I talked with my mom, we reminisced about enduring storms in
Oklahoma. We didn’t have the luxury of a basement. We had a cellar,
which is a hole in the ground with concrete around it. Our cellar was
creepy.  There were no lights in it so we had to take flashlights to
see at all. It smelled bad and was small. I can still remember the
musty smell and the frightened feeling we had each time we had to seek
refuge in it.

I recall one time our family headed to the cellar, only to find it
more flooded than we’d ever seen it. I was the youngest in the family,
and the water was so high it would have been up to my chest.  However,
I never got wet because my father carried me into the cellar and held
me. Eventually he handed me off to my mom. I didn’t know why he did
that; I just cried because I wanted dad. I loved both my parents, yet
at this time I wanted my strong father to hold me. I remember I felt
safest with him holding me. Years later my family told me dad had
spotted a snake in the water, but he wasn’t sure what kind it was
so he wanted to go find it to protect us. He saw it by the entrance,
so after making sure we were all safe, he went back to find the snake.
Meanwhile, he left me in the safe arms of my mom. Imagine being in a
flooded cellar, with a tornado overhead, and a snake in the cellar at
the same time! Some refuge!  Thankfully, we came out just fine. My dad
knew what was best. He never put me or my family in danger; instead he
went to find the threat to make sure we wouldn’t be more frightened or
even get hurt by it.

This makes me think about our heavenly father. How often do we feel
like I did when my dad handed me off to my mom? Do we feel abandoned
or unloved by God? Do we feel he doesn’t hear our prayers? Do we know that God is protecting us, even when we don’t realize it?
Years later I realized that dad didn’t tell me about the snake to protect me; I would have been even more frightened. And I didn’t understand what dad was doing when he handed me off to mom. He
never really left me; he went to protect me from a bigger threat.

God’s word reminds us that God is our ever-present shelter. Psalm 91,
1-2 says: He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in
the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge,
and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

Years later I can say I learned a spiritual lesson in that musty,
dingy shelter. It is that God never leaves us. The scripture says he
is our refuge, no matter if it’s during a divorce, loss of a loved
one, or during a tornado. God He always protects us, and the ultimate
protection will be life eternal in heaven. Thank you, God, for your
protection!

So the next time you are going through a storm in your life, pray. God is at work and you may not know it. Just like I didn’t know my father was at the entrance of the cellar trying to protect us, we may not realize what our heavenly father is doing to take care of us. We must have faith and know God is with us. He will never leave us.

At times in our life when we are frightened, God is working hard. He is taking care of us, even though we may not see it. Yes, God is always taking care of us, while also protecting us from that snake by the entrance of the cellar.