“He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul.”
—Psalm 23: 2-3
Last week I ended with a P.S. after discovering that what was hidden in the treasure box wasn’t what I’d remembered it being. Instead, it said that the source of my strength was in “meeting” my adversity well.
There are many paths we could take to discover more about this principle, but the first picture that I noticed that triggered something important, was when I noticed the word “meeting” my adversity.
Years ago while living on a small farm, a small farmhouse that the Lord actually used to restore my son’s marriage to his wife, was like most farms. It was remote. Our closest neighbor (longtime family friends; friends who my children refer to as “aunt and uncle”) lived exactly one mile away. Even to get to the farmhouse from the seldom-traveled highway was a quarter mile down a long gravel driveway.
The night I “met” my adversary was while coming back very late from being in the city. With no streetlights, no lights of any sort, I made the turn onto my driveway and began driving slowly down the quarter-mile gravel driveway only to see headlights that had been following me turn down too. Of course, my heart began to pound in my chest, and that’s when I had to make a decision. When I got to my garage, would I drive in quickly, close it tight and run inside to a safer bedroom to wait out whatever was coming? Or….
What I did was to pull in, get out of my car and walk to the opening of my garage door while standing to wait for the truck that had followed me. I am not sure how I was standing; I don’t believe I stood with my hands on my hips defiantly (like we see in movies), but I know one thing, I was vulnerable to whatever was about to happen. When the truck slowly pulled up, the window came down and though it was dark I was able to realize it was our neighbors’ son. What he said was, “Wow, you’re sure brave! I’m sure Gladys (the woman whose farm it used to be) would have run inside to call my dad to bring his shotgun over! Why did you just stand there?” I told him because rather than run and hide in fear, for God knows how long, I would rather meet and face whatever was about to happen.
Again I’m laughing because last week’s message was “Peek Out, Don't Open the Door” —now, this week, I’m saying to meet and face the opposition. 😉
Yet, I believe what’s different is that I wasn’t safe inside with Him, sleeping in the storm. This time, and so often, we’re out in the open, vulnerable to attacks that are sure to happen to us. It’s then that “meeting” our fears, our adversity… No, not being ready to fight, but not quickly running to hide is what we can do when we tap into the Source of our strength. Because we are His, the true Source of our strength being His love and it’s why we are able to smile and even laugh with Him.