A Rock in a Time of Fear

A Rock in a Time of Fear
Ron DeBoer
3/11/2013

I wait quietly before God,

for my victory comes from him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress where I will never be shaken. (Psalm 62:1-2, NLT)
 

When I was a kid, the terror of our farming community was Hector, the German shepherd. He lived on the last farm before you got to the edge of the little town where Mountain Dews and Jawbreakers awaited my brothers and me at Kwik Trip Variety, our weekly biking destination. We would coast down a long gravel hill and cross over a bridge spanning Silver Creek, and then our hearts would start racing. Hector had all sorts of hiding places, but he usually came racing out from behind the big brick farmhouse, snarling and barking, his body low to the ground, a matted black-and-brown line that flowed toward us. My brothers and I would stand on our pedals and pump frantically, white-knuckling our handle grips, praying our pant legs wouldn’t get snagged in the chain. Hector would time his pursuit perfectly so that just as we thought we were safe and sat back down on our banana seats, out he’d come. He’d chase us as far as the town welcome sign, his yellow fangs snapping at our ankles.

One day, Hector was waiting for us at the end of the lane, fresh off his pursuit of a tractor. This time he ran toward us. We had no choice but to skid to a stop, rotate our bikes beneath us, and retreat across Silver Creek Bridge. But Hector was on us before we could start pumping, forcing us to throw our bikes into the ditch and run for it. We climbed a wire fence and sprinted across a field. Hector dove under an opening and seemed to grin with those big yellow snapping choppers. Back then, the farmers used to plow up elephantine rocks and roll them to the fence lines. Spotting a big mossy boulder, we scrambled up just in time before Hector’s jaws ascended toward us like a gator’s. We sat on that rock for a good half hour, with Hector pacing back and forth with a crazy look in his eyes, his long pink tongue hanging out of his black face. As an adult I can still recall the fear in my body as we raced toward that rock, sure as day that we had sipped our last Mountain Dew at Kwik Trip Variety. That mossy old rock, as ancient as the created earth itself, became the refuge for three kids facing their darkest enemy that day.

As one gets older, physical fear seems to subside. At least it did for me. It wouldn’t be until forty years later that I would feel that same physical fear, when on September 11, 2001, the Twin Towers came tumbling to the ground. I remember watching the events unfold that day on CNN, my heart racing, my stomach sickened. Planes going down in Washington and Pennsylvania. Planes flying into buildings in New York. For me, the world seemed to be coming to an end. The terror felt deep and real. The World Trade Center buildings—those looming towers of concrete, steel, and glass that for many had become the rock-solid symbols of prosperity and the American Dream—had been toppled by terrorists.

But rocks and buildings, no matter their earthly importance, are mere metaphors for real refuge and safety. God is the only rock and salvation. In times of trouble and fear, God will never abandon us. The Bible says, “He alone is my rock and my salvation” (Psalm 62:2, NLT). Nothing else, no one else—God alone. This short passage is full of definitive words. “God is my fortress, where I will never be shaken.”

Never.

Evil will always be on the earth, but it will never defeat the power of God, nor can it ever compete with the love of Jesus who defeated the ultimate form of evil—death.

The song I chose for this devotional is The Lord Is My Rock/God You Lifted Me Out, sung by Wade Joye and Mack Brock from the “For the Honor” DVD.

Ron DeBoer is a writer living near Toronto. (see scripture below)

Psalm 62

For Jeduthun, the choir director: A psalm of David.
1 I wait quietly before God,
  for my victory comes from him.
2 He alone is my rock and my salvation,
  my fortress where I will never be shaken.

3 So many enemies against one man—
  all of them trying to kill me.
To them I'm just a broken-down wall
  or a tottering fence.
4 They plan to topple me from my high position.
  They delight in telling lies about me.
They praise me to my face
  but curse me in their hearts.    Interlude

5 Let all that I am wait quietly before God,
  for my hope is in him.
6 He alone is my rock and my salvation,
  my fortress where I will not be shaken.
7 My victory and honor come from God alone.
  He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.
8 O my people, trust in him at all times.
  Pour out your heart to him,
  for God is our refuge.    Interlude

9 Common people are as worthless as a puff of wind,
  and the powerful are not what they appear to be.
If you weigh them on the scales,
  together they are lighter than a breath of air.

10 Don't make your living by extortion
  or put your hope in stealing.
And if your wealth increases,
  don't make it the center of your life.

11 God has spoken plainly,
  and I have heard it many times:
Power, O God, belongs to you;
12   unfailing love, O Lord, is yours.
Surely you repay all people
  according to what they have done.