Courage! (Psalm 27)

Two weeks before her thirtieth birthday my youngest sister Tricia became a widow. She was left with a broken heart and three sons, four and under, to raise alone. The invisible membrane that separated the life she had dreamed of from the nightmare that she was now facing had ruptured. I will never forget how she responded to the uncertain future that she now faced. She said, “I am certain that I will see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living” (Psalms 27:13).

There were days when Tricia would slip away into Steve’s closet, and there she would give full vent to her grief as the tears flowed freely from her eyes. She yearned for the comfort and companionship that she had once known. Surrounded by the clothes that hung limp in the closet, she acknowledged both her grief and her pain. But in those dark and lonely hours she called out, “The Lord is my life and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life: of whom shall I be afraid” (Psalm 27:1)?

It is always difficult to mother three boys, four and under. However, Tricia was now faced with not only caring for these little boys who couldn’t understand what had happened to their father, she had to do it with a broken heart. I watched as she turned to God. “Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me! You have said, ‘Seek my face. My heart says to you, ‘Your face, Lord, do I seek.’ ‘Hide not your face from me’” (Psalm 27:8,9).

For almost thirty years now I have seen my sister turn to the Lord as her light and salvation. I have watched as she sought the Lord’s protection when faced with life’s crushing burdens. Time and time again I have seen God’s faithfulness on her behalf. He never hid His face from her. He never cast her aside. He never forsook her.

What are you facing today? What is the fear that haunts you. Where do you go when you feel that the invisible membrane that protects you has ruptured or is about to? Let me encourage you today to “Wait with hope for the Lord. Be strong, and let your heart be courageous. Yes, wait with hope for the Lord” (Psalm 27:14).