Read

Psalm 121

The Lord will keep you from all evil;
    he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep
    your going out and your coming in
    from this time forth and forevermore.
Psalm 121:7-8

Reflect

It was a dark and stormy night.

No, really.

The evening of March 14, 2008, in Atlanta, Ga., was filled with rain, lightning and thunder. I lived just north of the city, and I remember that it was a blustery night. But we had no idea just how blustery things were about to get in downtown Atlanta.

That evening, the Southeastern Conference was hosting its annual men’s basketball tournament at the Georgia Dome, and a game between Mississippi State and Alabama was in its final seconds. Late in the game, Mississippi State led 59-56, and Alabama looked to be out of time. With just a single tick left on the clock, Alabama guard Mykal Riley got off a three-point shot that swished through the net as time expired. Regulation ended tied at 59-59, and the game went into overtime.

What’s significant about that shot is that midway through the overtime period, a massive tornado barreled through downtown Atlanta and actually hit the Georgia Dome. Had Riley missed his last-second shot, the game would have ended, and thousands of fans might have poured into the streets just as glass, debris and dangerous winds were tearing through downtown.

That night, if you were a Mississippi State fan at the game, you would have likely been frustrated when Mykal Riley hit his shot. But you also would have unknowingly been spared injury or even death at that same moment.

Every day we encounter little frustrations and sometimes even major aggravations. The car breaks down. The roof springs a leak. The electricity goes out. There’s a huge traffic jam that makes you late. You get held up at work for an extra half hour. Any number of unforeseen issues and wrinkles can seemingly derail our day.

But how often do we stop to consider that we may not be seeing the whole picture?

That does not mean every inconvenience is secretly God saving us from disaster. Sometimes a flat tire is just a flat tire. Sometimes a delay is just a delay. But Psalm 121 reminds us that the Lord is watching over our going out and our coming in, even when we cannot see what He is doing.

James tells us to “count it all joy” when we meet trials of various kinds. That does not mean the trial itself is pleasant. It means we can trust the Lord’s purposes even when the moment feels frustrating, inconvenient or unfair.

Today, when you come up against an unpleasant surprise, instead of letting anger and frustration take over, pause long enough to remember that you do not always know what God is doing. Sometimes the delay, the detour or the interruption may be mercy in disguise.

Count it all joy, not because the frustration is pleasant, but because the Lord is still keeping your going out and your coming in.

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Reflection copyright © 2026 Doug DeBolt.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.