During times of calamity, we might wonder, “Where is the Lord’s eye focused in all this?” We can be sure that God is not focused on the wild plans of deranged leaders, no matter how powerful they are. “He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless … When He will also blow on them, and they will wither, and the whirlwind will take them away like stubble” (Isaiah 40:23-24).
Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.
In 1 Kings, Israel had just won a monumental victory against their enemies. God had promised them that he would hand these attacking nations over to them, but that might’ve been easy to forget in the wake of the battle. This wasn’t the end of their troubles, though.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches” (John 15:1-5).
Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.
The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
“When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them” (Luke 7:36-38, NIV).