The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Psalm 42:5-8, “Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence.

6 O my God, my soul is in despair within me; Therefore, I remember You from the land of the Jordan and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.

7 Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls; All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me.

8 The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime; And His song will be with me in the night, A prayer to the God of my life.”

Life is filled with problems; therefore, if you are alive and able to read this letter, you have undoubtedly encountered some difficult problems over the years. Some are fiddly little things that you’ve ignored, brushed off, and forgotten. Others are more serious and sometimes tend to inflict darkness upon you. Still, they are far from a fatality. They just linger, causing little flashes of concern here and there in the interest of keeping you spiritually off-balance. What is the remedy?

The Psalmist’s first question is “Why!” Why are you troubled about anything? I knew a man who said, “Don’t tell me it doesn’t pay to worry! Nothing I ever worried about ever happened!” I suppose that’s one way to shred worry. Just ignore it. Still, worries don’t go away on their own. Like a pesky animal, they have to be defeated!

“Hope in God,” the Psalmist says. That’s how to defeat worry. Yes, and true hope begs for continuity. The Psalmist adds “praise” to the LORD to be embedded with one’s cry for help. Were a wild animal to be invading the place where you live, crying “HELP” would be of little to no value unless it were addressed to a neighbor or the police. Our focus ought always to be on the LORD! And it ought not to be only when we are in despair. “…praise Him for the help of His presence.”

I recently read a paper I had written years ago – an account of the ministry in which the LORD had led my family and me to engage. Things I had forgotten…things that He had done in and through our lives—leading, encouraging, protecting—all were supremely encouraging! I was clearly in His hands. He was directing and protecting. There was no worry, as we were all yielded to Him. There’s an old song that says, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus; Look full in His wonderful face; and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.” I commend it!

Heartily in Christ,

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

United States of America

“We will never know that Christ is all we need, until He becomes all that we have.” –Corrie ten Boom