“Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
he is my God, and I trust him.
For he will rescue you from every trap
and protect you from deadly disease.
He will cover you with his feathers.
He will shelter you with his wings.
His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night,
nor the arrow that flies in the day.“
Psalm 91:1-5 NLT
I’m sitting in the middle of hurricane season, wondering what is going on.
I awoke around 4 am the morning that Beryl hit land….thinking this must be how Dorothy felt to be stuck on her way out of Kansas. Rain assaulted windows, waters rose in seeping levels, and the wind howled as if it wasn’t going down without the pettiest of fights.
The aftermath was nothing short of shocking. Brick walls crumbled like mournful rubble. Tree limbs, and trees themselves snapped as if the wind-borne tension was too much to bear. Debris littered the streets as if nature was trying to cover up the mess that it made…everything was out of sorts, and nothing felt sorted.
Here’s the wild thing: for this recovering scaredy cat, I cannot explain it, but I felt completely safe. Completely. I sat snuggled on the couch, watching this rager of a storm pass, knowing things were going to be OK. While I can’t say this is my reaction to every storm, something about this one was different, and it took me back to Psalm 91. Let’s pause there for a second, and explore the metaphor of storms a little more.
It seems like for most of us, a storm is either coming, going, or has been here. Am I wrong? Usually they show up with an unruly temper and leave nothing but wreckage in their wake. While we all encounter storms in life, it often highlights how out of control we actually are. While we can’t control the storm…… when it comes, goes, settles, passes by, or the toll it takes…..we can control how we respond.
If storms are a constant in life, there’s something we’ve got to settle here and now: what is your response going to be when the storm hits?
We can’t choose the storms, but we can choose how much power we give them. We give the storms less power when our focus lies on our all-powerful, refuge-giving God.
I think that’s ultimately where Psalm 91 is trying to lead us. If God is who he says he is (and he is) then there is something out of this world that this passage is leading us to. Think about all of the things God proves himself to be, despite the craziness of the world.
A place of refuge is needed because we often feel battered, bruised and battle-worn.
We need rescue because there are things that often entrap us.
Diseases threaten to come, and we need sovereign protection.
We need armor and protection because there is a war going on, and God wants to be our defense.
Here’s the beautiful thing that Beryl helped me to see…..it’s living in the shelter of the most High that makes everything else possible. That’s where everything needed gets unlocked. Needing a refuge, a rescue, or protection doesn’t mean that nothing ever goes wrong. (In fact it usually means you need help because lots of things go wrong.) Instead, it means that there is a way, the way, for the storm to loose it’s power is because the power of your protection is stronger.
Friends, the only way I know for that to be established is in HIM. Day by day, moment by moment, and storm by storm we make the choice to seek the one who calls us in love to be rooted, established and sheltered in his loving arms. Psalm 91 holds true no matter what the storms of life have to offer. My prayer is that each and every one of us will find shelter, refuge and hope in him.
So much love,
Joy