I really like this photo. It is so peaceful, so calm, so beautiful. Those trees reflected in the still waters of the lake, the woods in the background, the birds singing merrily all around… you can almost hear them.

But they aren’t there. Five minutes after I took this photograph of the flood not 20 yards from my back yard, Hurricane Milton kicked up again; but now, after the main part of the storm had passed, we were dealing with outer bands that would keep twisting through the area. The next time I was out here, the place I had been standing to take this picture was also under water.

Does that surprise you? After all, that is such a peaceful scene!

Nevertheless, the scene is not what it appears to be at first. Very little in this world is quite what it appears to be at first.

Here in the US, we are in the midst of an Election campaign. Much is being said, much is being promised, much is being reported about the candidates: Who can we believe, who can we rely on? I have finally gotten to the point where I don’t believe anyone any more.

How about you?

I suppose that I could rant on and on at this point about how things have never been like this before, how this is the worst time there has ever been… Yet there is nothing new under the sun, it’s meaningless, chasing after the wind.

Even so, there is One we can rely upon. There is One who will never let us down, who is faithful, honest and true, even now… especially now!

God is faithful, God is true. We can rely upon Him through every trial and through every twist and turn of this old world that has been messed up from its beginning.

Our faith and our hope is not in flesh and blood, or human institutions, nor is it in the things of this world, it is in God and God alone. Our trust in God and our relationship with Him is where we find peace, hope and fulfillment, and I don’t know about you, but for me that is all I need to find joy in this life, even when times are tough, and I am very thankful for that.