trbccoffeebreak

“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and He helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise Him. Psalm 28:7 (ESV)

Ever started your day with a song on repeat? The lyrics unable to escape you and the tune embedded in your mind. Without even thinking, the melody resumes, and you’re singing those words as if you’ve never heard it before. Days later, you find yourself humming the same song. The reason totally unknown in the moment – just a tune that keeps reverberating through your mind, tantalizing your voice and sounding through your home.

2025 unveiled such a moment – the song I couldn’t dismiss was Lauren Daigle’s “Be Okay.”  At the start of my day, throughout my day and at night the all too familiar tune burst forth a song deep in my soul. Some days, I’d shake my head totally unsure why I couldn’t get this song out of my mind, yet the next day it would return again as though I’d never heard it before.

Fast forward to February 25 and the sudden death of my husband, Jay,  sent my world into a spiral of uncertainties and unknowns. Blind sighted by a tragic loss, I now knew why this song had been playing on repeat. God was reminding me, surrounding me and singing over me the very words which would keep my eyes focused on the source of my strength in the darkest of nights. And the word God had given me for 2025 was none other than “Focus.”  A word I was clueless as to why God kept it at the forefront of my thoughts in those early days of 2025.

A song God knew I would need to remind me that I would “Be Okay” despite the hard journey grief births. A word God knew I would need to keep my gaze zeroed in on Him despite the challenges that would lie ahead. In His divine wisdom, God knew I would need an eternal focus on the resurrection hope that secures our lives in His presence forever – a sure foundation when life is shaky.

Pivotal verses in my calendar book the entire month of February encouraging my heart in ways that only God could have orchestrated. Reminders of God leading us in triumph (2 Corinthians 2:14). Reminders of our frailty and dependence on Him (2 Corinthians 3:5). And that week when life changed, God etched 2 Corinthians 4:16 “So we do not lose heart, though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.”

The sweetness of our God always preparing us in advance even when we don’t know the road ahead. The grace of our God easing us through the hard places and equipping us with His words so we can navigate the journey, hard or easy,  we didn’t expect.

What will 2026 bring? None of us knows what a day will bring nor are we to be consumed with tomorrow (Matthew 6:34). Rather, we are to live our days moment by moment totally dependent upon God, trusting in His unfailing character, clinging to His word and walking in obedience. Always in constant communion with the One who knows it all, prepares us for it all and carries us through it all.

“Father, there are no words to describe how precious You are to me. I see today what I couldn’t see yesterday, and I navigate tomorrow because I know You never leave my side.”

For His Glory

Janet Martin
TRBC Women’s Life