Author: Barbara

My passion is to encourage women wherever they are on their life journey. In everything I write and in every opportunity to speak, my goal is to offer hope. May the God of all hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 NIV

Summer Psalms: Safety

~ Barbara ~ 2 Comments

Happy 250th birthday, America!  We have cause to celebrate, even though we are relatively a young nation, an adolescent compared with Europe and the Near East. Like anyone in their teens, our country has experienced emotional upheavals, divisive warfare, and rages of temper with name-calling or worse. Hopefully, those of us who belong to God have matured and demonstrate the grace to forgive, the mercy to react with love, and a trust that combats fear.

And our young nation has a lot to fear, doesn’t it? We have a lot to fear—violence in our streets, economic failure, duplicitous politicians, imperiled troops on deployment, malicious infiltrators. This doesn’t even list personal troubles, whether relational, physical, or financial.

Fear not! There is good news. We can enjoy dual citizenship, pledging allegiance to the United States of America and also to the Kingdom of God. Our earthly national residence could be Israel or Iran, Fiji or France, Haiti or Honduras, Canada or Cambodia, Bahrain or Brazil—you get the idea. But when we ask God to rule and reign in our lives, we become a spiritual nation of believers, a blessed people who are kept safe in our Father’s care.

As His people, we enjoy the hope and consolation of Psalm 33, regardless of the earthly nation we live in. Savor the Bible’s assurances of safety and security:

  • The Lord foils the plans of the nations.
  • He thwarts their schemes.
  • His purposes stand firm, forever, through all generations (250 years and beyond).
  • He looks down from Heaven and sees us—He formed our hearts and considers everything we do.
  • He delivers us from death—not warhorses, armies, or weaponized drones.
  • He keeps us alive in times of drought (personal or physical).

There are wars and the threat of war worldwide. Who knows how the Iranian conflict or the Ukrainian/Russian war will end? What will be the next war, and will it involve our country? Who can predict how America will be governed in the future? What threats will menace our “United” states?

During our tenure on Earth, we are safe. God has revealed His sovereignty to us, assuring us of His protection. Let’s focus on the safety of our souls and not fear what man can do.

Remember your heavenly residency, for the One who created us is preparing a place for us.

Time Out from Summer Psalms

~ Barbara ~ 3 Comments

 I can’t remember ever neglecting to post on a Thursday morning, but time got away. We spent a few days in Lancaster County, enjoying the peace of the countryside and bringing David to the high point of his year—a show at Sight & Sound. We saw Joshua and, as usual, the performance was fantastic.

We’re home now, recuperating from all the social connections David initiated. The hotel’s breakfast room was filled with about 40 people each morning—all were friends David had not yet met. He was more or less the hotel greeter, with us running behind him to make introductions and attempt to translate his gestures.

I’ll be back next week with a Summer Psalm. See you then!

Summer Psalms: Surrounded

~ Barbara ~ 3 Comments

In a warfare context, “surrounded” sounds threatening, but in a social setting, we are comforted when surrounded by friends. That is the same relief we enjoy when we learn that God surrounds us. He protectively encircles us, lovingly enfolds us, and faithfully encloses us in safety.

The news reports much about being surrounded by danger as wars rage around the globe and social wars disturb America. But there is One who surrounds us and protects us. He is before us, behind us, above us, and beneath us—all around us.

Let these verses from the Psalms comfort you:

You go before me and follow me.
    You place your hand of blessing on my head. Psalm 139:5

He will cover you with his feathers.
    He will shelter you with his wings.
    His faithful promises are your armor and protection. Psalm 91:4

I cling to you; your right hand upholds me. Psalm 63:8

Just as the mountains surround Jerusalem,
    so the Lord surrounds his people, both now and forever. Psalm 125:2

Summer Psalms: Security

~ Barbara ~ 3 Comments

Security and safety are opposites of danger and vulnerability. It’s obvious which side of the street we prefer to live on, especially in the midst of today’s unrest. Governments and leaders cannot offer guarantees, neither can commentators or friends, unless… Unless they refer us to assurances from the Bible.

In Psalm 16, David asks God for safety and confesses, “Apart from you I have no good thing.” In essence, he’s saying that apart from God, there is no safe place. Then he makes several confident confessions:

  • “You have assigned me my portion and my cup.” God sees us and has positioned us in time and space to be right here, right now. He knows this is not too much for us. He is with us and rules in our circumstances.
  • “You have made my lot secure.” The NLT says, “You guard all that is mine”—my family, my country, my freedom, my wellbeing, my heart. He’s got this! He’s got us!
  • “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places,” even when bombs fall, politics fail, and confidence flees. Any place with the Lord is a pleasant place.
  • “I will praise the Lord… I will not be shaken… I will rest secure… You will not abandon me.”

David’s declarations can be ours. We find rest in God when we decide to trust Him.

David didn’t know Luke, who authored the book of Acts, but the words of Psalm 16 and those in Acts resonate with faith in God’s sovereignty.

From one man He made all the nations,
that they should inhabit the whole earth;
and He marked out their appointed times in history
and the boundaries of their lands.
Acts 17:26

May both writers bring peace to our hearts.

Image by Yuyi from Pixabay