Although so many of us call God our “Rock and Salvation” far too often He becomes our last resort. When all of our resources are gone, our options exhausted, and energies spent we turn to God not just for comfort in a storm, but in many respects, for a miracle. This picture, posted on Flickr.com by “Piotr.amigo”, seems to capture that moment. Amid all of the darkness in the world God shines through as brilliant light – far above and far apart from us, somehow the divine remains intimately close. It is the beauty of the Christian faith. So we wipe away our tears, turn our backs to all those dark things that haunt us, and lift our eyes to our “strength”, our “refuge”, and our “rock”.

It is in that moment, when we have turned away from the darkness, that we realize what all our troubles are: as the Psalmist says – vapor. We had vainly placed our hopes in our own strength, only to forget that “power belongs to God”. The Psalm reminds us to come back to where we should have always been. To “Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.” In doing so, hope is restored, our troubles vanish, and all we can see is the comforting light of God. -- Patrick Darnell