“Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces.”
Psalm 34:5 (NLT)

My hubby and I were sitting in a coffee shop enjoying our usual Saturday morning pot of tea and watching the world go by.  Just across from where we sat, two young guys stopped and each took something out of their pockets. From where we were sitting I could clearly see that they were lottery scratch-cards. They pressed the cards up against a shop window and started enthusiastically scratching them. The first guy turned back around to face us, and his face said it all; it was the picture of abject misery, disappointment and despair. He truly looked as though he had pinned all his hopes and dreams on the right numbers being on that card.
The second guy was probably disappointed too but perhaps his temperament was more laid back, or maybe he just played his cards closer to his chest and his face was less readable that his friend’s.

Although his friend was talking to him, slapping him on the shoulder, trying to laugh it all off, the first man just couldn’t seem to stop staring at that card. It was as if he thought that if he kept staring at it, the numbers would suddenly change to read what he had hoped they would.

The face of that young man has stayed with me.
I’m so thankful that, as God’s child, I don’t have to live my life according to fate or the ‘luck of the draw’. In times of fear, hardship, despair, uncertainty I can turn to God’s Word with intent, expectation and focus, and I know, with absolute certainty I will always find what I need.

The Bible is not ‘just a book’, it is the living Word of God.

Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.”

God’s Word is constant, unchanging and life-giving. In the Bible we find comfort, guidance and hope!
We will never, ever come away from an encounter with God with a countenance like that the face of that young man I saw. As Psalm 34:5 tells us, “those who look to him will be radiant with joy”. 

Jill 💜