March 11, 2009
Shelter from the Storms
He who
dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide
under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say
of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in
Him I will trust." Psalms 91:1-2
How do you feel when a thunderstorm is
happening? I grew up in Texas and heavy rain came with a lot of thunder and a
lot of lightening. As a child I
would lie in bed and as soon as the room lit up with lightening, I would count
one-one thousand, two-one thousand, and three-one thousand until I could hear
the thunder. That was supposed to give me an idea how many miles away the
lightening was. When the light and thunder were practically on top of one
another, I would pull the covers over my head or run jump in bed with Mom and
Dad! Sometimes thunderstorms came
with the threat of tornados too.
One time while in Oklahoma at my great grandparent’s house, a tornado warning
called everyone to the cellar in the backyard for safety. I remember being very
upset, because my father had gone out early to go fishing and was not with us.
Storms are bearable when you have shelter and the comfort of parents.
Since Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:45
that, “He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the
good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust,” it is good to know
that we have both the safety of shelter and comfort from the storms of life in
the arms of our heavenly Father.
God promises in Psalms 91:4-6,
“He shall cover you with His feathers, And under
His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You
shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays
waste at noonday.”
As the enemy tries to use lightening,
thunder, and mighty winds to scare us and cause us to pull the covers over our
heads, let us remember that if we are found under the wings of the Almighty,
Satan has to get past God first to reach us. God’s walls are salvation and His
gates are praise. (Isaiah 60:18) Therefore, as a child of God, we can enter
God’s presence and protection through praising Him. Isaiah 25:4 says,
“For You have been a strength to the poor, A strength to the needy in his
distress, A refuge from the storm, A shade from the heat; For the blast of the
terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.” May our enemies beat
against the wall of salvation instead of our false walls of self preservation.
Instead of allowing the storms of life
to drive us into the arms of God, let the storms find us resting there when they
roll in.
Many are
the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. Ps
34:19
Janet Fairbrother