scared – Hope Walking

What do you call God?

What words did Jesus use to refer to God? Stop and think a minute. Can you recall? I word-searched through the Gospels and this is what I found: God, the Lord, the father, my father, your father.

When you need him, what do you call God?

My friend recently gave me a lovely prayer shawl, complete with blue stripes and tassels. When I tried it on I noticed the word Abba was woven into the cloth over and over. Abba is Hebrew for father.

In my neighborhood we have a family that moved here from Israel. One afternoon Annie, their little girl, climbed an exercise structure and made her way out onto a horizontal bar. She hung there but soon realized how high up she was.

Frightened she yelled“Abba! Abba! Abba!” I watched her father sprint across the playground and grab Annie.

“Abba, Abba,” I cry when I am afraid or stuck.

My little neighbor knew her father would come. How do we know our Father will come?

In my previous blog I introduced the Hebrew name for God, Yahweh. When Moses first met God he asked God what his name was, and God told Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.”

Yahweh means the existent one. When you’re reading your English translation of the Old Testament and come to LORD, lord printed in all capital letters, you know the name Yahweh is there in Hebrew.

In ancient cultures a name told you something about that person. God’s Hebrew name tells us he is the one who existed before all other things.

But we need to know more, so Moses, later on, asked God to show him who he was so we could know him.

And this was God’s answer to Moses, and to us:

The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”

Will God care when you are afraid and call him? Yes! He is merciful.

Will God take care of you, as Annie’s father did? Yes! He is gracious.

Will God be patient with you? Yes! He is slow to get angry.

Will God pay attention to you? Yes! His love for you is bigger than you imagine.

Will God be there when you need Him. Yes! He is always faithful.

Jesus taught his disciples to pray “our Father,” inviting us into relationship with God.

The invitation is clear. God says, “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you.”

What are you waiting for?

Scripture references: Exodus 3:1, 34:6, Psalms 50:15

Recently, as hurricane Dorian traveled up the east coast, seeking refuge was very much in the news and on our minds. We all want to get out of harm’s way when threatening storms approach. But sometimes we can’t.

My grandmother left me a little cottage on a birch-lined road that leads to a sparkling lake in the Adirondack Mountains. It is so peaceful there. But not always…..

One July dawn we awoke to howling winds and havoc.

I was there with my 87 year old dad and two young sons. The day before had been still and hot with an eerie, yellow evening sky. At early dawn heavy rain pelted the windows and woke us. I hurried out on the porch to close windows as the rain came in sideways, driven by 60+ mph winds. Our flag was ripped from its holder and flew down the street. We heard branches in the surrounding woods snapping and falling, along with trees hitting the ground.

My dad, a WWII Navy veteran, got up and remarked, “This is like the typhoon I was in on the Pacific.”

We were in the path of a derecho, a fast-moving, massive wind storm. At any moment a large pine could crash through our metal roof. My sons looked to me for protection, but I was totally helpless.

Helpless on my own, but we were not on my own.

We had often read in God’s word:

The Lord has said, “I will never leave you and I will never abandon you.” So we can say with confidence, “ The Lord is my helper, and I will not be afraid.” (Hebrews 13:5-6)

So we prayed, “God, this is your wind and these are your trees, and we ask You to keep us safe.”

We took refuge in the hand of our Helper and watched the storm pass through. As the wind died down we went back to sleep.

Later the sound of my neighbor’s chainsaw woke us to a clear, bright day. Downed trees blocked the road and leaned on houses, but nothing had landed on our roof.

I often remember the peace that covered me after I prayed in that storm. Storms of life come unexpectedly, but the hand of the Lord my Helper is always with me, and He is my refuge.

Would you like safe refuge from the storm you are in right now? It doesn’t matter if the storm is a hurricane wind at your door or a churning sea of grief and fear in your heart. God is there with you. He knows why the wind is blowing; He made the wind. He knows why your heart is breaking; He made your heart and He loves you.

The prophet Isaiah tells it like this: You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock. (Isaiah 26:3,4)

Tag: scared

Calling God

My Refuge