A Word of Encouragement from Rice Elizabeth Handford
Sometimes in life there is absolutely no one, nothing, that can help you except your Almighty God. There are crises in life that no amount of money, no amount of influence, no education or intelligence can solve. 
This truth was carved into my heart one terrible morning as I followed an ambulance carrying my precious husband to the emergency room. He’d fallen from the roof of our home. The EMS people were professional and kind, but of course they couldn’t promise me anything.
Are you wondering why my 75-year-old husband would be on the roof of our home? He’d been a pastor for 50 years, and then retired. But he’d loved serving God and people, and he was desolate when he retired. He needed a big task to fill the emptiness. His daddy had been a carpenter, and he’d inherited his father’s love for building. So Walt was building a two-room addition to our home, a dining room to hold our big family, and an office for me.
I followed the ambulance toward Memorial Hospital without difficulty. They were driving slowly to keep the jolts in the roadway from increasing Walt’s pain. As I followed, all kinds of questions and doubts swirled through my mind. Could Walt possibly survive the injuries of a twenty-foot fall? Would he be crippled for life? How could I get in touch quickly with all the children, and what hope could I give them? Could I bear the pain of losing this man who’d been such a loving, compassionate, thoughtful and brave husband for 50 years?
A sudden thought pierced my scrambled thoughts. How would Walt’s critics react when they heard? Would they believe God was punishing him for the courageous stands he’d taken on major social issues? (You ask, A pastor? Have critics? Certainly. A man of God who lovingly preaches what the Word of God says, instead of politically correct ideas, will be criticized.) And my heart shrank from the hurt.
And then the Lord Jesus seemed to say to me, “Libby, don’t open that door. All you need to do right now is to trust Me.”
I could do that. I didn’t need to ask “what if”? All I had to do was to rest in the shelter of God’s omnipotent love.
Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
This I declare of the LORD:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
He is my God, and I am trusting Him.
His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
Psalm 91:1,2,4 nlt
God kept His promises. Walt lived to his 90th year with joy.
And I? Well, I still often get into a dither and dart hither and thither about something as simple as a lost hearing aid or a scam invoice. But sometimes the danger is real. I’m frightened and panicked about a matter where no one can help me except God. You’d think I would remember His faithfulness in a crisis, since He has always, always kept every promise He ever made to me.
So the secret for both you and me? It is simply to abide in the shelter of our Almighty God.