Proverbs 3:5-6: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.

Do you have ideas about your life and what you should do? We all do whether in battle or peace. We all have inclinations to go where our emotions lead. To be drawn to what seems warm and safe. Oh, but God, and his great plans for us. I like to take right turns, I like toasty fires and soft blankets. Oh, but God and his wonderful plans for us. He has a quiet voice that is apparent if I lay quietly and ask him why God, what God, what happens next God? If I remain quiet long enough for Him to ring through my emotions, I hear Him. He shows me direction, He shows me where I am and where not to go today. Where not to go today is not just good enough, but more than enough for me to get up and breathe into the direction where I am not going. Thank you God for knowing how to speak to us in words we can understand.

Proverbs 18:10: The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.

That is what He is making us – – a strong tower. Towers are tall and securely built. Each brick of your life is placed in such a manner that the hard winds of your next storm fail to decompose or chip at the tower. The stronger the Lord makes the tower, the more winds it can sustain. The enemy can blow to no avail when the Lord makes the tower in you. God, wherever each of us may be in the building of our internal tower, help us have the faith to grow tall in you.

Isaiah 41:10: So, do not fear for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous hand.

Sometimes it feels like the water is up to your arms. Sometimes you don’t even know the water is up to your arms until He shows you. Sometimes you have to stay away from the water and stand on dry ground. His hands hold us wherever we are, but it is better to be on the ground God calls us to. Thank you God for seeing what we cannot see on our own.

John 16:33: I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world.

Psalm 63: A psalm of David. For us when we are in the desert . . .

You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water.
I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.