Twilight fell.  The stars came out white and clear.  Night cloaked the valley with dark shadows and the hills with its obscurity.  The blue vault overhead deepened and darkened.  The hunter patrolled his beat, and hours were moments to him.  He heard the low hum of the insects, the murmur of running water, the rustle of the wind.  A coyote cut the keen air with high-keyed, staccato cry.  The owls hooted, with dismal and weird plaint, one to the other.  Then a wolf mourned.  But these sounds only accentuated the loneliness and wildness of the silent night.”
              –Zane Grey  (The Mysterious Rider)

    “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.” 
              –John 10:28-29 (NKJV)
———————-
Trust me–God is everywhere.  He is with you in each and every circumstance.  The uncertainties of life become certain because He is there with you through them.  We may know the theology that God is omnipresent, but do we sincerely practice it?  I trust that you have a morning devotion and prayer time, however, throughout the day you should revisit them.  Yes, while at work, while traveling, while doing the untold chores of the day, take time to revisit the Lord for He is there.
    David understood this and refers to it in many Psalms, such as 73:23, “Nevertheless I am continually with You; You hold me by my right hand.” (NKJV) and Psalm 16:8, “I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.” (NKJV)  There may be a crowd around you, yet you can engage in a solitary thought.  You may have someone at your desk, yet you can lean back and contemplate this thought quickly.  Someone has said that we ought to make a “chapel in our soul” so that at a moment’s notice we can make a quick visit.  We cannot be too busy to turn aside to God for a moment.
    Francis de Sales states, “If we become familiar with close, private exchanges with God, the thoughts of our mind will become more beautiful.  This is not at all hard to do.  You can do it anytime and anywhere.  It is not inconvenient even for the busiest person.  This little turning aside spiritually is but a moment of relaxation.  Instead of interrupting our work, it will help us to work more productively.  It is like taking a little refreshment during a journey.  Far from interfering with progress, it energizes us.  A little rest, and then we can travel better.”
    Use the things around you to reflect upon.  Become familiar with the Scriptures for they are there to help us along the way.  I was watching the bluejays and cardinals searching for food along the ground yesterday morning.  The thought was there that the even the sparrow has a home (Ps 84:3) and that not one of them falls to the ground without the Father wills (Matthew
10:29).  Let the Holy Spirit quicken your mind.
    God is there, right there where you are, meet with Him.

A man can never do the same piece of trail over again.  But he can always turn into the one he ought to be on.”
              –Ernest Haycox  (The Wild Bunch)

    “Go in by the narrow gate. For the wide gate has a broad road which leads to disaster and there are many people going that way. The narrow gate and the hard road lead out into life and only a few are finding it.”
              –Matthew 7:13-14(Phillips)
———————–
    “I’ve lost it, I’ve lost it,” I hear the cry of someone scurrying around, maybe on his hands and knees looking for the place where he can get back on the trail that he was riding.  It was a good trail, comfortable, with relatively few obstacles along the way.  It was a trail free from hostiles and few predators moved along its borders.  Oh, where, oh where is it?
    Perhaps the cry is more like this, “I sure miss that path I was on, this one is so rocky and so steep.”  The way was once in the green meadow with soft grass to walk upon, now the trail has turned rugged and rough.  It strained the body, mind, and soul.
    The issue is that the person became a Christian.  He found the trail found the narrow gate and is walking the Lord’s pathway now.  It is a hard road, but it leads to life and to the eternal city.  Gone is the easy way.  Oh, not that life was necessarily easy, but on the old road his enemy wasn’t Satan and the world.  Now he seems to be attacked one way or another around every bend in the road.  Often he finds himself in a “heap of trouble.”  There are all kinds of obstacles from fallen trees, to rocks, to quicksand.  There are swamps along the way and rugged mountains to traverse over.
    The howl of a wolf may cry, answered in the distance by its mate.  He may be stalked.  There might be the growl of the puma, or the roar of the bear.  He begins to wonder why in the world didn’t he stay on the easy path.  But this is the one that he is supposed to be on.  This is the one where he can lay down at night in spiritual peace.  Rest for his soul, there should be no anguish or anxiety.
    Often he has questioned if he should try and go back or cross over to the easy trail.  He can see from one of the boulders he is sitting on the people across the gorge laughing and seeming to have to good time, a happy time.  Once in a while one will see him and wave at him, beckoning him to come over.  All he has found is struggle, but at the end of each day there is comfort.  He will lay himself down to sleep and remember that he is not alone, that he has a Guide, a Comforter to be with him as he travels.
    He is assured by his Guide, that one day it will be worth it all.  One day he will be in the full presence of the Lord and each blister, each scrap, each scar will be worth the travail.  One day he will fully realize that the stalking of the wolf has ceased and he made it, he was not pulled down and devoured.  One day he will rest from the fighting he has found himself in against the hostile forces of the devil.  One day…but not yet, not now.
    Stay on the straight and narrow.  Don’t seek to go back, for the Lord has warned if he seeks to go back he is not fit for the kingdom of heaven.  Weather through the storms–hunker down if needed.  Use your rod and staff to fight off the wolves, lions, and bears.  Fight the good fight, be alert, be strong, be brave.  Endure hardships that you will be “perfect and complete lacking nothing.” (James 1:4)

Trouble and misery aren’t your very own private garden where you can run away to to feel sorry for yourself.”
              –Douglas Hirt (“The Kid”)

    “Because for every matter there is a time and judgment, Though the misery of man increases greatly.”
              –Ecclesiastes 8:6 (NKJV)
———————–
                      “Whate’vr my fears or foes suggest,
                       You are my hope, my joy, my rest.
                       My heart shall feel your love and raise
                       My cheerful voice to sing your praise.”
                              –Isaac Watts

Have you ever felt that God has abandoned you?  Maybe you think that He doesn’t care or that He doesn’t have time for little ol’ you.  When you read the psalms of David you find that he is very honest in his thinking and emotions.  If you have felt frustration and abandonment, well, so did David.  Look at Psalm 13 (HCSB):

          1 How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?  How long will You hide Your face from me?
          2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart daily? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
          3 Consider and hear me, O Lord my God; Enlighten my eyes, Lest I sleep the sleep of death;
          4 Lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed against him”; Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved.
          5 But I have trusted in Your mercy; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
          6 I will sing to the Lord, Because He has dealt bountifully with me.

    David is really struggling when he pens this psalm.  The RSV states in verse 2, “How long must I bear pain in my soul?”  It is more than just an emotional response, but there is deep anguish.  The NIV puts it this way, “How long must I wrestle with my thoughts?”  Sometimes there is a real war raging in our minds. Because of that we often magnify the problems we are facing and add a “what if” to everything. Notice, however, there is a progression in this psalm.  This is good to keep in mind.  The first two verses we see David complaining.  That is the place where so many Christians get stuck.  They get in complaining mode and move from it.  David moves quickly from complaining to praying.  Finally, he is brought back to his senses and faith again takes hold for he is trusting and rejoicing.  We need to pray long enough that we come out rejoicing knowing that God is in control.
    Alfred Edersheim said, “Let me be one of the upward and outward lookers, not one of the downward and inward lookers.”  We need to get out of the “woe is me” and get back on track and say “great is the Lord.”  Listen!  Feelings do not always tell us the truth about God.  You may “feel” as if He is not there, but didn’t He promise never to leave or forsake us?  Faith must come into play and is must always answer feelings.  In fact, it should be faith followed by feeling, but we most often put it the other way around.  When we continually complain and look inward to ourselves weakness tends to follow and we lose control of the situation and that produces apprehension and fear.  Look up!  “But I have trusted in Your mercy.”
    F.B. Meyer lists characteristics of “People who dwell in the dust”:
         1)  those who feel forsaken by God,
         2)  those who feel their prayers are going nowhere,
         3)  those who are discouraged with life’s possibilities,
         4)  those who are going through difficult financial or physical stresses,
         5)  those who are stuck in a job or family situation they can’t get out of.
Perhaps it is time for them to pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and get back to living the life that God has intended for them.