There are times that a verse helps me deepen my walk with the Lord or may have been pivotal to carry me though a hard time. Psalm 4:8 is one of those verses that has touched me deep in my soul.

It has gotten me through some very severe storms. Not the emotional kind but weather. I use to hate strong winds and had an unusual fear of tornadoes for never having experienced one. I no longer lay awake all night prepared to wake the house up to seek shelter in the basement (much to my husband's relief). I now am able to get a good night's sleep knowing the Lord will wake me if it is needed. This verse brings me peace. For God alone can keep me safe.

I will lie down and sleep in peace,
for you alone, O LORD,
make me dwell in safety.
Psalm 4:8

At one time I traveled on a book tour with an author and several other people promoting his book. One night after driving for hours on end, we entered Los Angeles at 3 in the morning totally exhausted. We came to a mediocre looking hotel (we normally stayed in very nice hotels but this day we had somehow gotten off schedule) and checked in. Apparently this hotel? was normally used at an hourly rate and I suspect was often used for illegal activities. On the corner were women of ... (how should I carefully say this?) ill-repute. Being the only woman in our group, I was going to have a room of my own. My companions offered to keep driving until we found something a little more appropriate butI was so tired at that point (I had done a considerable amount of the driving) I did not even care. I slept in my clothes, barely used the washroom and prayed Psalm 4:8. I figured at that point I was in God's hands and I needed sleep.


Another time this verse came alive to me was the day we had to ask our 18 year old son to leave. We had tried over and over to get him to follow our rules but he continually chose to do what he wanted. These were very basic rules that he signed a contract to follow. He repeatedly made the decision to go his own way, re-sign a contract and continued the same behaviors. With a heavy heart one day, we felt that he left us no choice but to ask him to leave the house immediately. Armed only with a backpack of what he considered essentials and a pager, he walked into the darkness without a destination. Knowing this would happen I had arranged for a place for him to stay for a day or two until he settled but he chose not to do that either. .. He walked out peacefully and promised to return my pages (that was just prior to cell phones being normal and pagers were common.)

At that moment I did not see a young rebellious man fade into the night, I saw my 3 year old precious little boy drifting away from me. Oh how a mother's heart can ache!

My prayer was constantly: "Lord you know where he is and what he is doing. He is safer in Your hands than mine. I hand him to you. For you alone, O LORD, will make make him dwell in safety." And He did. My son was safe through it all. My ability to sleep at night and not be plagued by obsessive worry was only due to my trusting God at His Word.



In Proverbs 3:5 the Lord reminds us to trust in Him with our whole heart.


Working on applying and making Prov 3:5 ingrained into my being (I am still working on that) has not necessarily made everything easier. But it has given me a peace and an inner strength that provided me the ability to get through whatever came my way. Not only to "get through it" but to grow through it and to trust through it. AND I have been able to sleep!