Need Help? Where Are You Looking For It?

Appearances can be deceiving.  Looking out my window this morning, I saw a sunny day with a lot of blue sky and a few clouds, but the moment I stepped outside, the below-freezing temperature and the chilling wind reminded me that it was winter and I should be grateful that there was no rain or snow on the ground----yet!  We began our service with a congregational song, followed by the welcome from McGinty.  Then, the choir, orchestra and all our dedicated accompanists presented the powerful anthem, "Honored, Glorified, Exalted".  The congregation joined in on a few more songs to prepare our hearts for the sermon.  Pastor Wes is still a little under the weather, so his dad, Brother Mike Wilkinson, was God's choice to fill the pulpit and bring His message to us this morning.  Brother Mike directed our attention to Psalm 121 which has some simple and direct advice for all of us, whether we are facing big crisis moment challenges or just the everyday decisions of how we live in a fallen world.  In either case, we want to reflect Jesus and His love and care for us in all we do and say, so the psalmist tells us to begin by looking up to God.  God is the Creator of all things and He loves us, so we have His full attention on us at all times.  Sometimes we don't understand why He is allowing things to happen the way they do, but He knows what lies ahead of us and what is best for us.  He never takes a break.  He is always with us to protect us from the dangers of the day and those of the night.  That doesn't mean that our lives will be trouble-free and happy all the time, but it does mean that He is fully focused on what we are dealing with and willing to help us get through if we will ask Him and trust Him to be faithful to His promises.  Brother Mike had much more to say about all this and explains it all better than I can on the Live-stream.