The Lord is my strength and my shield;
in him my heart trusts.
—Psalm 28:7
During the American Civil War, the citizens of Vicksburg, Mississippi, found themselves surrounded by General Grant’s Union Army. The siege lasted more than forty days.
No supplies came in. On the verge of starvation, the entire town survived by eating black-eyed peas, a food that until then had been used in the South only to feed cattle.
Their eating of the humble “cowpea” gave birth to a long-standing Southern tradition: black-eyed peas are eaten every New Year’s Day to bring good luck for the coming year.
The tradition is okay, but we Christians are not looking for luck. We’re placing our trust in God for present blessings and final victory.
“Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you” (Ps. 9:10).
God doesn’t ask you to figure it out.
He asks you to trust that he already has.