Pastor's Corner: 'The Lord is my rock'

Last week, I talked about the beauty of creation and I challenged you each day to ask yourself, “where I have seen God today?” Don’t get me wrong, we are surrounded by God’s beautiful country! But as we all know, creation can have a destructive side too – floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, etc. And in my case, an unfortunate rock.

You see, amidst the wonderful experiences I described of hiking in state parks and sight-seeing in Glacier National Park, I also had the experience of having my car towed out of Beaver Creek Park after it was undriveable.

But the series of events that followed after I pulled off to the side of the road was a true sign of God’s faithfulness. Once I was able to diagnose the problem, my friend and I stood there on the side of the road, with no cell-phone reception, staring blankly into the hood of my vehicle. At that precise moment, a car pulled over and offered their help. He looked at it and came up with a plan. He assured me that they would take care of us. They happened to be camping with someone who worked with cars and we pulled him away from fishing to come look at it. Unable to solve the problem himself, he was able to make an emergency call and secure us assistance. From there on, numerous friends jumped in to help me assure that I had transportation until I was able to get my car repaired.

That same day, as I immersed back into cell service, a pastor colleague of mine sent me a text with my assigned topic for teaching the children at our ecumenical ministry this week: “The Lord is my Rock.” Now I am convinced God has a sense of humor!

Psalm 18:2 says, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.”

To say that God is our Rock means that he is our stronghold, and that he protects us and shields us. He has the power to save us by his death on the cross for us. He is a safe place. This world can be scary sometimes; bad things happen for no good reason. But God is our Rock. He protects us and keeps us safe. When I say that God the Rock protects us, of course I am not saying that bad things will never happen to us. We will get sick, lose friends, grieve losses. Life is rough. God does not promise a life without tough times but God does promise to keep us strong through those hard times by being our Rock.

In joyous as well as difficult times, let us lean on God who is our Rock, the solid foundation on which we stand, the cornerstone of our lives. Let us trust in Him whose provision is always good and whose faithfulness gives us life. Thanks be to God!

The Rev. Maggie Lewis

First Presbyterian Church, Havre

Chinook Presbyterian Church