Don’t Panic – Pray

I’m so glad the Lord reminded me yesterday to hold fast to His hand.

There’s an old hymn, written in 1906, “Hold to God’s Unchanging Hand”.

1. Time is filled with swift transition,
   Naught of earth unmoved can stand,
   Build your hopes on things eternal,
   Hold to God’s unchanging hand.
   • Refrain:
     Hold to God’s unchanging hand,
     Hold to God’s unchanging hand;
     Build your hopes on things eternal,
     Hold to God’s unchanging hand.
2. Trust in Him who will not leave you,
   Whatsoever years may bring,
   If by earthly friends forsaken
   Still more closely to Him cling.

Interesting first line for sure. “Time is filled with swift transitions”.

Dave and I headed into town early yesterday morning to pick up some building materials and a few groceries. On our drive home we saw a big white smoke plume rising in the desert.

It was hard to determine its exact location. In fact, we purposely didn’t take one road because we thought it might be blocked and we wouldn’t get through. So, we drove on to our normal road. As we got closer to Queen Valley, our little community, we realized the fire that had caused the smoke plume was just to the east of us.

Talk about a swift transition…

It looked like everything was being tended too. Unconcerned we drove home, unloaded the building materials and the groceries.

We learned within a few short minutes that our community had been placed on a “Set” response for evacuation.

Don’t panic. Pray. Hold on to God’s unchanging hand.

” ³ God, you give true peace to people who depend on you, to those who trust in you. ⁴ So trust the Lord always, because in the Lord Yah you have a place of safety forever.” Isaiah 26:3-4 ERV

We were concerned for those neighbors who live out of state and were seeing things posted on Facebook. The calls and emails were coming in quickly and we did our best to reassure everyone.

God blessed our community with a wonderful crew of fire fighters both on the ground and in the air. Within a few hours the smoke had diminished. We are still on a “Set” alert and will be until the situation is re-evaluated this morning, but we are safe.

We do not know what each day will bring but when we know and trust God, we can rest, without fear, in His protection.

Let me close with this Psalm that I was reading this morning.

“You are my God. I worship you. In my heart, I long for you, as I would long for a stream in a scorching desert. ² I have seen your power and your glory in the place of worship. ³ Your love means more than life to me, and I praise you. ⁴ As long as I live, I will pray to you. ⁵ I will sing joyful praises and be filled with excitement like a guest at a banquet.

⁶ I think about you, God, before I go to sleep, and my thoughts turn to you during the night.
⁷ You have helped me, and I sing happy songs in the shadow of your wings. ⁸ I stay close to you, and your powerful arm supports me.” Psalm 63:1-8 ESV

As children of our loving heavenly Father, we hold tightly to His hand. Don’t panic – pray. He holds us up!