This week, on the Joy to the Soul Summer series, guest writer Carol McCracken is sharing encouragement and an unexpected faith adventure with us!

“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:1–2 ESV)

Summer has a way of opening us up. We travel more and loosen our schedules. We chase sunsets, family memories, and moments that remind us life is bigger than our routines. But most of all, there’s something about summer that makes us hungry for joy again.

This past spring, my hunger was filled on the last night of a mission trip in Madrid, Spain. Our team spent days serving pilgrims walking the Camino de Santiago. We had the joy of listening to stories from people all over the world. Amazingly, we shared the love of Christ in simple conversations over coffee and meals. It was one of those trips where you could almost physically feel God at work.

On the last evening, our team gathered for dinner to celebrate God’s goodness. We spent the day relaxing, laughing, and being unworried. At one point, I stepped away from the table to pick up my coffee order. I left my purse beside my trusted teammates. And by the time I came back, my purse was gone. A professional thief slipped through the crowd in the restaurant and disappeared with my purse.

In an instant, my passport, wallet, cash, credit cards, and phone vanished. If you’ve ever been “off the grid” and faced the unexpected, you know the helplessness I felt.

I couldn’t access any of “the help” from the contents of my stolen purse. This also meant I couldn’t text my family in the States to let them know what happened. But what surprised me the most wasn’t the panic. It was how quickly God began providing for my needs.

He provided through teammates who prayed over me on the way to a Madrid police station. God moved through women back home in my Bible study group. Somehow, they knew exactly when to intercede. God sent practical help, wise counsel, and people who calmly guided me through the steps to get back home.

Psalm 121 suddenly became very personal to me. Pilgrims have sung those words for centuries while traveling uncertain roads: “My help comes from the Lord.” In Madrid, my help was not from my carefully organized plans, my phone, or from my own competence. It was and is “from the Lord.”

The thought of summer joy often invites us into motion, like undertaking vacations, adventures, camps, mission trips, and family gatherings.

But maybe part of experiencing God’s joy is remembering that our security was never really in our circumstances to begin with.

You may have your own circumstances where security has suddenly become scarce. I didn’t enjoy feeling vulnerable or dependent. But looking back, I can see how tenderly God met me in the discomfort. He reminded me that I am never alone even as fear tells me that I am. As you consider where you’ve been and what has happened this year, this week, or this summer, you’re not alone either. That’s something we talk about often on our podcast, Faith Over Fear.

Fear loves to isolate us and convince us that we’re abandoned. But time and again, God meets His people through community, prayer, and His faithful presence. He meets us in the middle of real-life messes. This summer, whether your days feel carefree or complicated, may you remember where your help comes from. And may you discover that even unexpected detours can become part of your joy story.