“for the Lord will be your confidence

And will keep your foot from being caught.”

-Proverbs 3:26

As we enter this month of June, many people’s thoughts turn to one thing: Summer break! This means different things to different people. To students it means a several month reprieve from the classroom. To many it means a summer vacation, or time away from work to recharge. To all of us it is a welcome season of warm weather and a chance to enjoy the beauty of God’s  creation. But before we can truly get to summer, there is one thing that comes that all students dread… Final exams! It is an inescapable fact that those tests will come. For many college students they have already completed them but for others they still loom in their future. While I no longer am a student I, too, am looking at some testing in my near future, in the form of ordination paperwork and interviews with the Board of Ordained Ministry.

I don’t know what it is about tests that almost always elicits negative emotions. I suppose it is the fear of failure that we all have experienced. A fear of being told we aren’t good enough or don’t know enough, or that we simply aren’t enough. Sometimes that fear can be a crippling thing, it can prevent us from thinking with a clear mind leading to a self sustaining loop of fear.

As I reflected on my own fears this week, I found myself in the book of Proverbs. And while Solomon has many wise and encouraging words throughout the book I came across verse 26 (that I began this article with). This was the message that I

needed this week. The reminder that that no matter what I face, no matter what any of us face, the Lord will be with us. The Lord will be your confidence. The Lord will be with you to look that fear in the face and then to move past it. The Lord will guide your steps and will not let you be caught up in the traps of fear and doubt.

Maybe you have a test before you, whatever form that test may take. Maybe, like me, you are a little fearful of that test, afraid that you aren’t enough. My friends, let me assure you that you are enough. You are enough because the Lord is with you. The Lord will be with you before, during, and after whatever trial you may be facing, and no matter where you find yourself, the Lord our God still goes with you and loves you. That is the reassurance I hope you can hold on to this day and every day. Let us give thanks for that love that knows no end.

God Bless,

Pastor Devin

To read the rest of the June newsletter, click here:  June 2018