Rock Solid

God alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
Psalm 62:6

It’s not hard to trust God and have faith in his perfect will when things are going well. It’s the shaky times that often leave us confused and afraid. You know the ones: when the very walls that have supported you come crumbling down and you feel like you’re standing on sinking sand.

I remember such a time in college. I had just learned some things about my family’s past that were devastating. I was still grappling with this when I met Eric, fell in love, and then proceeded to say goodbye to him. He was off to Siberia, I was still in college. (At the time, I had no idea what God had in store for us). Within two months, my brother’s best childhood friend and my co-captain for the upcoming hockey season committed suicide. The walls of my well planned life had come crashing down.

I don’t remember much about this time in my life, except how exceedingly painful it was to pray. I knew God was my rock and my salvation; but I still felt shaken.

Today, that family situation has been redeemed. My parents will be with us this weekend to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary! God did indeed have a plan for Eric and me. A miraculous one, I might add, considering Eric needed to be converted before anything else was to happen with us. I still have questions and great sadness over the suicides of those two friends, but I have learned – through good times and bad – that God alone is sovereign and he alone holds all of life in his loving, strong, and merciful hands.