“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1
Sometimes God calls us to serve Him in ways that are difficult or challenging. I got a new student this week, bringing the number of my students to 31. When I first started teaching 5th grade, I had 19 students. And now I have over 30 crammed into my classroom. Why??? It seems like an impossible task. How can I connect with 31 students each day? How can I make sure they are all learning? How can I manage their behavior? How can I deal with the many, many things that come up during the day and “waste time”? I am forgetting that I have help.
God has called me to teach. He is the One who has placed these 31 little lives in my class. He has given me a task…and when God gives a task, He does not abandon us to complete it alone. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).
He is my very present help, and He has a purpose for His Kingdom that is beyond my understanding. It is the Lord Himself whose strength will continue to pour into me, one day at a time. He is always present, offering His assistance, for I am weak but He is strong. How much easier the task becomes when I realize that I am not expected to do it alone! One day at a time, one hour at a time, one minute at a time – God’s strength and peace are continual.
He will never grow weary or faint. “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable” (Isaiah 40:28).
He is steadfast and unchanging. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17). “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
Therefore, I can rest in Him. The task will be accomplished because He Himself is faithful. “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).