Senseless violence and disregard for humanity has dotted our summer – Orlando, Dallas, Nice, Baton Rouge. Our own people turning against one another making inside our own country feel as unsafe as outside the borders. No longer can we easily detach ourselves from what is happening, say on the other side of the world, because now it is hitting home and living on high alert is becoming the new normal.
Fear is settling into our souls as we stand guard, anxious about what’s going to happen next – when, to whom and where. We fret about our children’s future in a world like this. And while ‘hope of change’ is the political rhetoric of the day most of us are disillusioned, and afraid it is only going to get worse.
In today’s world, how then can we possibly not live scared?
This morning I turned to Psalm 91 and found reassurance in the promises of God to be my protector.
“You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor disease that prowls through the darkness,nor disaster that erupts at high noon.” Psalm 91:5-6
Why?
Because “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty…He will deliver (me)…and He will cover (me)…and (I) will find refuge.”
Continuing on through the passage his word serves as a balm to our soul and peace for our mind. If this is what you need, turn off the news for bit and listen to another voice. The most sure voice of the Lord affirming those who abide in him with these truths:
- I will deliver and protect you.
- I will answer you when you call out to me.
- I will be with you in trouble.
- I will rescue you.
- I will honor you.
God says he will honor us? Described by Tim Keller in his book, The Songs of Jesus, God honors us by bestowing glory upon us! In other words, our worth comes from the Lord. Made in his images and crowned with glory, no one can rob us what he declares to be true – no matter how hard or seeimingly successful perpetrators of hate are in seeking to strip dignity and destroy life.
Even in such trying circumstances of an unsafe world, what also stands out to me in this passage is those who are abiding in him are never outside is eternal protection. What is happening around us doesn’t determines security, God does. Even with war and destruction, sin and strife all around us, we are safe in the shelter of his love.
This does not mean we will not experience trouble or even death, so his promise to rescue may look different than what we think. But, with his promise to rescue “to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
He is my guarantee and eternal security – nothing else in life is sure. But for those who cling to him, we know a day is coming where there will be no more evil, no more tears, no more want, no more hurt. Until then, abiding in the shadow of the Almighty we can live not scared but with the assurance not a hair from our heads will fall apart from him (Matthew 10:29).
