I am a pocket person.  I enjoy wearing clothing that provides pockets, but not just any pockets.  Not the short, stick-half-of-your-hand-inside type of pocket.  Those pockets are most disappointing. I want a deep pocket, one that provides a depth for my whole hand and one that allows me space to carry my selected rock (from the growing accumulation of rocks) because if you know me, then you also know how I continually carry a rock inside my right pocket. The rock I carry determines the direction of my thoughts and my lifted prayer, as I travel throughout my day.

Oftentimes, I can be the most forgetful person, so I rely upon my phone calendar to keep my day’s schedule, and I rely upon the rock resting inside my right pocket to keep me focused upon praying for a specific person throughout each day. (My husband still wonders why his rock is a solid black rock, but that’s a topic for another day). Just as I may skip today’s 1pm meeting without my phone calendar reminder, without the rock deep inside my right pocket, I may forget to pray.

Go with me a moment, image a roadway, a drive some mornings I am gifted to make.  As I speed down the parkway, I am afforded the peaking of the rising sun in my rearview mirror as I drive my Subaru westward, a reminder how God had gifted us with a new day.
Once I reach Hwy 55, the sun is really taking shape, and by the time I crest a small hill on my last miles toward school, there is a beautiful valley off to the right, where Hwy 1701 intersects with Hwy 55.
Now I do not know where 1701 leads (and someday soon I will need to venture out that road on my way home), but for now, see with me the fog that lays in the valley off to the right (eastern) side of the vehicle. 

Without the morning’s sunrise, the fog still exists, but it can be seen only with God’s gift of the sun.  Yes, surely, the sunrise is necessary.   I have often thought about taking a photo, but this beautiful image really must be seen with a person’s eyes and not through a manmade photo.

Yesterday, as I drove, I was not disappointed because as the valley became visible to me through the passenger window, immediately I saw the beauty of the fog settling there in the valley, and it was there (in that moment) I thought of David and his battle with Goliath.

• Maybe we remember how David was a mere shepherd boy who courageously stood against a great giant of a man.
• Maybe the plain where they met that fateful day resembled the valley filled with fog.

Yet, see in our minds a settling fog, one that dips down into the valley and seems to settle in, filling the valley deeper in some places more than others.

I wonder if that’s what the field was like that morning when David faced his giant.

Could David see his giant’s full height?
Could David feel his heart pounding within his chest as he placed his single rock in his sling and swung in around his head, releasing it to fly forward toward his adversary (the giant)?
Was Goliath struck down with David’s small, smooth stone David carried within his pouch or with God’s power and might!!!
Could David had known that day how that solid rock had the power to change the course of history!!!
How would the world be a different place if David had never selected that solid rock!!!

David was filled with confidence only the LORD can provide.

There is a beautiful melody by the band Unspoken titled “You’ve Always Been.” This melody provides us with a great Biblical truth—“Everything I’ve needed, You’ve  [GOD] always been.”

The Unchanging Solid Rock

A valley filled with ascending and descending fog.
A single rock carried inside my right pocket.
A rock slung from a boy’s hands to land squarely on the temple of an adversary, bringing defeat and changing future lives.
Do not believe me but believe God’s Word. 

David was strong—in the LORD. 
David was courageous—in the LORD. 
David did not tremble in fear, but he placed his trust—in the LORD.
David remembered it was His LORD—Who went with him into the valley that day.
David remembered it was God—Who would never fail him nor forsake him.
David remembered how God promised his ancestors that He would go before them, ahead of them in fact, and David claimed that same victory for himself.
David knew as he faced Goliath (his struggle) that his God gave him the victory—even before he placed the smooth stone inside his sling—even before he swung his arm above his head—even before that solid rock landed squarely upon Goliath’s temple—&—even before the giant fell dead there on the plain.
David knew! He trusted God! He relied upon God! & He stepped forward, secure in God’s courage, power, and confidence!

Today may bring turmoil, anguish, and change unlike anything we’ve ever faced.  Do not be dismayed; do not be afraid; and do not be overcome.
Stand with God.
Place your hand upon the Solid Rock and Trust God.
God does not ever change!
No!—NOT—EVER!!!
There is peace in understanding that truth.
There is comfort in God’s presence.
We do not constantly need to search for this world’s peace, for God’s salvation is offered to us freely (to each person) to each of us.
A gift freely given, but one offered at a great cost—Jesus Christ died upon the cross to provide us with His free gift of His Salvation. 

The Unchanging Solid Rock
Place our trust in God, the one who assures us—“For I, the LORD, do not change;…” (Malachi 3: 6a)