Mike Walsh

King Solomon was known as a man with wisdom like no other and he wrote the Proverbs. In Proverbs 3:5-6 he wrote this: “5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight,” as written in the NIV Bible. Sometimes saying that is a lot easier than living it. 

When we face what seem like impossible situations, it is great to know that we have a place where we can run.  As humans it is easy to think that we have all the answers for our lives, until we face something that pulls the rug out from underneath us. 

Six years ago I received a call that would forever change our lives. My youngest son called me to tell me that his 2-month-old first child probably had full blown leukemia. This was especially hard because just a few months before this, our 3-day-old grandson died in the NICCU in Billings. 

What do you do when you hear news like this? We said to ourselves, “This can’t be true, this can’t be happening to our granddaughter, this is what happens to everyone else, but not us.”  Then we found out that it was happening to us, Riverlyn was in very bad shape as they airlifted her from Spearfish, South Dakota, to Sioux Falls Children’s Hospital. The doctors were concerned that she may not make it through the night. We made the 700-mile trip as soon as we heard. The drive was filled with desperate cries for God’s help, with disbelief that it was happening. Needless to say, it was a very hard drive to make. 

I was so glad that I knew I could put my trust in a God who would hear me and would care. When we got there our son and his wife were in the room and it was a hard time. Our son had written a song a month before this happened that he entitled, “Calmer of my storm;” it was about how to put his trust in Jesus when things weren’t going well. He had no idea why he was writing it, but it became a source of strength for all of us! Many people face difficult times everyday, but not everyone understands that we have a savior who loves us and who wants to be our strength in difficult times. 

This past week we met with a couple who had just found out that the husband has leukemia. Their response to it was amazing to us. They said, “God has never failed us yet, we can’t help but trust Him because He has never failed us yet!” What an awesome testimony of the faithfulness of God! I pray for them everyday!

I don’t know what you are facing in your life right now, but I am sure that there are those who need this today. I just want to remind you that God is not a respecter of persons, he loves us all the same. He sees you in your struggle and in your pain and he wants to bear your burden. 

I want to just encourage you to put your life and your struggle in the palm of God’s hand today. I want to encourage you to just have a talk with the lord, confess your sins to him, talk to him about all that’s going on in your life. Trust him in your situation and he will be there with you. He has always been there for us! And by the way, our 6-year-old granddaughter Riverlyn is living cancer free and she is loving life! Put your trust in Jesus!

(Mike Walsh is the pastor at Glad Tidings Assembly of God.)