"I Am With You"

And David became greater and greater,
for the Lord, the God of hosts, was with him.

2 Samuel 5:10

Here's the complete reading

This is John, a 90+ year-old Maine lobsterman. Like most lobstermen, he's up around 4 a.m. checking the weather then heading to the docks. Around 6 a.m. he's picking up his stern man, buying bait and heading to sea checking some of his 150 traps. Some traps will be empty others will have a decent haul. By late in the day he's headed to the docks again selling his catch.

John also knows of lobstermen whose boats sank and had to swim ashore. He knows of others that never returned home.

John returns at the end of the day "for the Lord was with him."

"I am with you," says the Lord. Beginning with Moses (Ex.3:12), continuing through David, then through Jesus (Mt:28:20). The Scriptures assure us, "I am with you." 

We may behave like David and Bathsheba or Judas. The awareness of our own sin may leave us feeling as though we are drowning in our own shipwrecked life unable to make it ashore. 

"I am with you" says the Lord. Read the story of Paul's shipwreck and the lives saved. Read again the story of Jesus calming the sea and rescuing the disciples. Reread some of the other stories of salvation in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures.  

"I am with you," says he Lord as you live each day or as face life's greatest challenges. Whether you come home with empty traps or a decent catch, "I am with you."

Thanks be to God.