Jesus is the Key

“The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness. He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.” *

     A series of incidents caused much personal agitation recently. First, I lost my necklace—a gift from husband Al long ago. A search through the bedroom and laundry basket proved futile. Days passed without finding it; and I prayed continually that the Lord would show me its location, missing greatly the cross and chain that I wore everyday. Was it lost for good?

     Then there was the uncertainty of a health crisis a loved one was experiencing. What did the future hold? More prayers! To add to the turmoil in my soul, many conflicting voices over important issues were speaking loudly in my ear, affecting opinions, values and beliefs that had formed over fifty years of studying the Bible daily and seven decades of living.

     When a friend in our small group at church commented, “I feel like I’m all alone,” I nodded in agreement. It seemed like everything was falling apart around her. She was struggling, trying to carry the “weight of the world” on her shoulders. Me too!

     As a group, we remembered the story of Elijah from the Old Testament. Elijah was a prophet in Israel during the tumultuous reign of King Ahab and his wife, Jezebel. After receiving a death threat from Jezebel, he fled to Mount Horeb, “the Mountain of God,” where he took shelter in a cave.

     During the night, the Lord spoke to him asking why he was there. Elijah explained that even though he had been zealous for Him, the people had rejected God and had put His prophets to death. Elijah claimed that he was the only one left and that they were trying to kill him too.

     Then God told him to go outside the cave and that He would meet him there on the mountain. After a hurricane force wind shook the mountain, there was an earthquake. And after the earthquake, came a wildfire. When these had subsided, Elijah heard a quiet voice whispering to him and ventured forth from the cave covering his face with his cloak.

     God repeated the same question, to which Elijah gave the identical answer he had given earlier: all of the other prophets had been put to death and he was the only one left. Then God reassured him that he was not all alone, that there were still 7,000 people in Israel who, like Elijah had remained faithful to God. Elijah was told to go back the way he came and was given instructions on what steps to take next.

     Although I didn’t experience a hurricane, earthquake, fire or hear a whispering voice, the Lord gave me the same reassurance of His presence a few days ago when I reached behind the headboard of our bed to unplug the space heater from the wall. Suddenly I saw the chain of my necklace, wrapped around the electrical cord from my reading lamp.

     With joy, the necklace was untangled and retrieved from behind the headboard. I held it up high, thanking God for answering my prayer. “How did it get there?” I wondered. I put it around my neck and then walked over to the closet to pick out my clothes for the day.

     Bobbing just above my clothes was the slightly deflated foil balloon our kids had given Al on his birthday several weeks prior. Somehow the balloon must have been carried on the current of air from the furnace, traveling down the hall from Al’s office to our bedroom closet! “Happy Birthday!” I danced around the room with my cross and the balloon, feeling like it really was my birthday.

      A few days later, I decided to wear a pin on my sweater in addition to the cross necklace. Mixed in with the other pins was one shaped like a key with “JESUS” engraved on it. The small key was the reminder I needed. In the midst all of the turmoil, I had forgotten that Jesus was with me.

     Just has He has been in the past, so He is with me now and will be with me in the future. No matter what challenges we might face, Jesus is the answer. Trust Him!

*Isaiah 33:5-6 NIV