Some moments in life feel like everything is coming apart. Leaders are confused. Accusations fly. Foundations seem to shake. In moments like that, one calm voice can change everything.
Emma, our third daughter, painted this card for my 65th birthday.
It quietly reminded me of something I hope remains true as the years pass:
God is never far away when we have the courage to come to Him honestly.
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A Phone Call That Changed Everything
Fifteen or twenty years ago, there was a day when everything on the mission felt like it was coming apart.
The details blur now, but the atmosphere remains clear.
Confusion. Conflict. Too many voices. Too many problems.
You know that moment.
When a situation becomes so tangled you don’t even know where to begin.
Finally I picked up the phone and called my mentor.
Honestly, I didn’t know how he would respond. Maybe disappointment. Maybe correction.
But within a few minutes, something remarkable happened.
Nothing in the situation had actually changed.
But everything inside me did.
The noise settled. The path became visible again. My soul became quiet.
And afterward, I remember thinking:
I want to become that kind of mentor someday.
The kind of person who walks into a storm and quietly lowers the wind speed in the room.
Someone whose calm presence helps others see clearly again.
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Psalm 11: The Moment David Refuses to Panic
This week I’ve been living in Psalm 11.
At first glance, it almost feels like a small, forgotten psalm—one of those short prayers tucked quietly in the middle of the book.
But the more I read it, the more it felt like it was written for today.
David begins with a bold declaration:
“In the Lord I take refuge.”
Immediately, the voices answer back:
“Flee like a bird to your mountain!”
Be practical. Stay focused. This is no time for the mountain.
David describes the danger clearly:
“The wicked bend the bow; They set their arrows against the string to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.”
Then David asks the question that echoes through every generation:
“If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
When institutions wobble… When leaders fail… When systems crack…
What can the righteous actually do? Does meeting with God on His mountain actually help?
What David Actually Did
Psalm 11 turns on a quiet but powerful moment.
David stops listening to the panic and remembers what is true.
“The Lord is in His holy temple. The Lord is on His heavenly throne.”
In other words:
The real foundation of the world is not governments, organizations, or leaders.
The real foundation is God’s throne.
Psalm 2 says God has already set His King on His holy mountain.
The Kingdom of God is not fragile.
It is already established.
So David refuses to panic. Notice what he actually does.
He doesn’t just calm down. He doesn’t take a deep breath and push through.
He goes somewhere.
Back to the mountain. Back to the place where God’s throne is real and visible. Back to where he has already met God before and knows what it is like to be there.
Busy people, good, hard-working, responsible people, are often told that they cannot afford to spend time there. There are arrows in the dark. There are foundations shaking. There are problems that need solving right now.
David’s answer is that you cannot afford not to.
Instead, he returns to refuge.
Taking refuge in God is like stepping onto the mountain of God, like returning to the Garden in the middle of a storm.
The tree of life is still there. God is still present.
And from that place, everything begins to look different.
David reminds himself:
God sees everything. God tests every heart. God loves righteousness. God will bring justice.
And the psalm ends with a promise so bright it almost feels like sunlight breaking through a storm:
“The upright will see His face.”
When we see God clearly, chaos loses its power.
David had been here before. And he left us a record of what he found.
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The Surprise in Psalm 4
In Psalm 4, David says something surprising
He tells people close to him that the light of God’s face has given him more genuine, lasting joy than the highest moments they experienced at harvest, the best this world’s blessings could offer, when the grain was full, and the wine was flowing, and everything felt abundant and good.
That isn’t future hope. That already happened to him.
He found something at the mountain that the busy world around him hadn’t found yet. And that discovery, not his talent, not his courage, not his leadership ability, is what made him someone others could call in a crisis.
The mentor I called that day had been to that mountain many times. I could hear it in his voice.
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How Do People Grow Old?
Turning 65 makes a person think about these things.
I recently came across a line from the Christian author Ronald Rolheiser that stayed with me.
There are only three ways people grow old:
an old fool, an old angry person, or a godly elder.
And here’s the sobering part.
You don’t decide that when you are seventy.
You become that person slowly—through thousands of ordinary choices across a lifetime.
Some people grow old foolish. They stop learning.
Others grow old angry. Life disappoints them, and bitterness quietly takes root.
But some grow old godly.
They suffer. They forgive. They keep trusting God.
And over time, they become the kind of people whose presence steadies others.
Like the mentor I called that day, and many other days.
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The Hidden Path of Wisdom
The Bible shows that many of God’s greatest leaders walked through betrayal and wilderness before they became elders of wisdom.
Joseph was betrayed before he could feed nations.
David was hunted and misunderstood before he could write songs that steady the world.
Paul was abandoned by friends before finishing his race in peace.
Their authority did not come from position.
It came from tested trust.
Their lives quietly say one simple thing:
God is faithful.
What the Righteous Can Do
Psalm 11 answers the question it raises.
“If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
They can do three things.
1. Take refuge in God. Return to His presence in prayer.
2. Refuse to join the panic. Do not feed the chaos.
3. Become people who carry God’s presence into the room.
The world already has enough people spreading panic.
What it desperately needs are steady hearts.
A Personal Question
When people leave a conversation with you…
Do they feel more anxious or more steady?
Your answer to that question is quietly shaping the kind of elder you are becoming.
A Word for This Week
Some of you reading this are river pastors in Brazil. Some are students. Some are grandparents. Some lead churches, teams, or businesses. And many other places and callings.
But the invitation is the same for all of us.
When accusations fly like arrows in the dark…
When foundations seem to shake…
Lift your eyes.
The Lord is still on His throne.
And as we learn to take refuge in Him, we quietly become the kind of people who help others find their way home.
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Life in Our Corner of the World
The Saturday night group decided to throw me a birthday party.
And yes—that is a bag of tapioca and a huge jug of açaí. (R$112 for four liters!)
I was already roasting a squash, so we added that too.
Simple food. Loud laughter. Deep gratitude.
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Deanna’s Journey to Healing
Deanna passed another milestone this week. Only four more “targeted therapy” sessions to go. These are hospital visits where Deanna receives an infusion of medicine as the final stage of her cancer treatment plan.
Deanna’s parents, Harold and Joan, just celebrated 63 years of marriage.
They helped lay the early foundations of the Xingu Mission and the Vineyard church in Northern Brazil, and they still cheer us on today.
They are beautiful examples of aging well.
When the foundations shake, the righteous do something simple:
They take refuge in God and become the calm voice others need.
Prayer Requests
Deanna’s continued healing and strength
We are meeting in Portugal this week, on a survey trip, as we pray with a team about planting churches there.
Wisdom as we mentor emerging leaders
Peace and clarity for friends walking through chaotic seasons
That our churches would grow steady, humble, and Spirit-led
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A Word from This Week
Our neighbors Tonhetta and Vanderlei invited me for lunch this week: barbecued tambaqui.
Sometimes the Kingdom of God looks like fish, laughter, and unhurried friendship.
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Prayer
King Jesus,
When the world grows loud and unstable, teach us to take refuge in You.
Guard our hearts from foolishness. Deliver us from bitterness.
Form in us the quiet wisdom of those who have walked with You a long time.
Make us people who carry Your presence into a restless world.
And let the light of Your face shine on us. May the joy of the Lord be our strength.
