Like ‘50s farm women who canned corn in August for January sustenance,
we can store up God’s word in the cellars of our hearts. Such stored wisdom can
carry us through our spiritual winters. When tragedy and disappointment threaten
to overwhelm our trust in God’s goodness, those summer-stored words can nourish
us.
“Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.” Job’s words
strengthen my faith as I contemplate tragedies around me— the California wildfires, the untimely death of a friend’s child, the catastrophic losses in China and Myanmar. If Job can hope in God in spite of his immense losses, we can too.
Job’s testimony of hope was called up from a summer’s
reserve. He didn’t grow that trust as his children died, his servants perished,
and his crops failed. That faith had grown out of his intimate friendship with God
before those reversals.
Sometimes
we find God in suffering but the road is smoother if we’ve gathered up
sustenance ahead of time. We don’t have to leave the path to find food if we
carry it with us. What scriptures carry you through? What wisdom is tucked away
in the cool basement of your heart?
Here
are two more from my storeroom:
“The Lord will
rescue me from every evil
attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom.”
2 Ti 4:18
“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory
that will be revealed in us.” Ro 8:18
Jesus, please help us store in summer what we’ll need in winter.