A Mighty Fortress

For You are my rock and my fortress;
Therefore, for Your name’s sake,
Lead me and guide me.

Psalm 31:3 (NKJV)

Thought for Today: Sitting on Castle Rock overlooking the city, Edinburgh Castle has quite an interesting history.  From it's early beginnings, it was constantly changing hands between the English and the Scottish.  In 1573, the English laid seige to the city in an attempt to capture Mary, Queen of Scots. This seige lasted for two years.  Eventually, the English were able to blast through the fortified castle and capture all of the defending troops.  After every battle, the castle was patched back up, refortified and used again by either side.

If you are a believer, you have an undefeatable fortress, the Lord God Almighty.  He is our unchanging rock, a fortress in which to seek refuge.  Yet, so many times, we come under attack from without and within, feeling like the walls of our fortress will fall down around us.  We don't trust in ways that we should and allow the walls to come down, sometimes in very subtle ways, allowing this world to draw us away from our Lord.  We so often can't feel the loving arms of protection around us, missing out on allowing the Lord to shelter us during our most trying times.  What to do?  When you can't feel Him near you, He still is there.  Look to Him, turn towards Him and ask for guidance, ask for His leading.   Seek to repair the cracks in the walls of your fortress, confess your unbelief and He will bring you back to a place of shelter.

If you visit Edinburgh Castle today, you will see evidence of many repairs done over the years; patched walls, rebuilt towers.  Our lives as Christians are much like that.  Something  falls apart, leaving us vulnerable.  Yet, through God's grace we are able to rebuild, to return to the safety of resting in the shadow of His wings.  My prayer today is that you will turn to Him always, regardless of what you are going through.

Heavenly Father, we face so much in this life and so often turn from You in our unbelief.  Forgive us for not believing fully in your goodness, your peace and your protection.  May we run back to You, like a child running to the safety of his father's arms, knowing that we can find true protection in You alone.

New Beginning

"Those who trust in the Lord are like Mt. Zion,

which cannot be shaken

but endures forever.”

Psalm 125:1

            If you have had a chance to witness the monarch butterfly emerge from its chrysalis, you have experienced the end result of a magnificent metamorphosis.  After its rebirth, the butterfly rests near the vessel of transformation until its wings harden.  In the same way, many arise in the morning and sit at the edge of the bed waiting for the cobwebs to clear.  For most, this is not as pretty a sight as that of the monarch.   Perhaps the first thought which comes to mind upon awakening is  "Oh no, it is morning again."  I wonder, if monarchs had higher thought processes, what would be their first thought upon coming forth into the world.

            Each new day presents us with a new set of problems and challenges.  Often, these problems seem overwhelming.  We feel swept away by the rapid course of a fast-paced life undercut by a cross-current called change.  Yet, each day we have a choice as to how we will react to our circumstances.  It can be another stress filled day as we run the obstacle course of life, perhaps fearful of what lies ahead.  Conversely, each day can indeed be a new beginning as we forge ahead trusting fully in the faithfulness of our Lord.  In order to accomplish this we must turn our thoughts toward Him each morning before we go out into the world.  We must learn to trust, living ever with our eyes upon Christ, standing firm on His truth.

Looking to the Lord in Times of Need

            There are times of trial which befall believer and unbeliever alike during the course of a lifetime.  These hard times may come by way of loss or through the poor choices which one makes..  Perhaps the most difficult trial to endure is losing a close relationship through death or estrangement.  When you are in the midst of these times of doubt, times of hurting, where do you turn?  In which direction do you turn your eyes: upward, inward or straight ahead?

            We live in a society which constantly teaches us to trust only in ourselves.  When hardships come, we are taught to draw upon the resources around us, our relationships, family and friends.  We often try to offset the bad parts of our lives with what the world teaches us is good: money, power and position.  Yet, all of this leads to emptiness, for the resources of the world are finite.  All the money in the world cannot stop the heart from crying out in pain and anguish when we are hurt, in times of doubt and despair.  The best relationships, while they offer support and often are the means by which God ministers to us, cannot quite calm the storms of fear which lay buried deep within the hearts of all humankind.

            Trusting in the resources of the world, or looking straight ahead, during times of trial results in only an illusion of peace, a false sense of security.  For all of the things of this earth will one day pass away.  Perhaps realizing this, many people turn inward and live in a state of fear and self-pity.  This looking inward often results in an endless cycle of fear and doubt.  Many spend their days on this treadmill of fear.

            How should we as believers be different in the way in which we combat this fear?  How should we react when times of trouble assail us?  In Psalm 121, David tells us to look up to Him who made the heavens and earth.  David shows us that our help is to come from the Lord.  This is what makes us different from the world, for the one who created us also wishes for us to trust in Him and to seek Him as a source of strength.

            This Psalm further illustrates the completeness of His protection on the believer's life.  He watches over us both night and day, keeping us from all harm.  Not only does He watch over you now, but will watch over you forevermore.  Why then, do we live in our tiny worlds of fear?  If He will watch over our entire lives, nothing which can happen to us is out of His control.

            There is great power in this promise.  Yet, there is action involved on our part.: trust.  It is a simple word, yet so difficult.  How do you free your life from fear?  How do you live a life which does not need to focus upon the passing to offset the insecurity and fear which rampantly race through the hearts of mankind?  Trust in God.  Believe fully in your heart that this same God who created this earth, who created you, will care for you and provide for your every need.  Claim the promises of Christ.

            Throughout the Bible, there are so many promises to those who trust.  Psalm 125:1 says "Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever."  By trusting fully in the Lord, we can be a people who are not perplexed and ruled by the trials of life,  but rather stand on a firm foundation.  We can persevere regardless of the difficulty, knowing full well that we are under God's sovereign care.  We can enjoy peace in this lifetime, knowing that our gentle Shepherd indeed will lead us safely through this life.

            Oh, believer, that you may indeed trust in Him through each and every day of your life.  For truly, in trusting you will find peace and rest for your soul.

Delivered

Bow down Your ear to me,
Deliver me speedily;
Be my rock of refuge,
A fortress of defense to save me.

Psalm 31:2 (NKJV)

Thought for today: Hemmed in from all sides, that is the only way that Jake could describe the situation.  He and his men were fiercely fighting off hundreds of Vietcong from all sides of the hilltop that they were on.  He had already lost one of his sergeants who was in charge of one fire team.  Jake knew that the inevitable was coming, sooner than he would like.  Without a radio, he was helpless and could not call for backup or for artillery fire.  

Have you ever felt like Jake, ready to be taken down by the overwhelming circumstances in your life?  Perhaps you have felt like you had no place to turn, no help in sight, no end to the circumstances.  Life tends to do that to us at times, doesn't it?  We think that things are going fine and then, kaboom, something happens and we are ducking for cover.  Maybe an illness, loss of a job, fractured relationship or inner turmoil.

Jake could not believe what he was hearing.  Clearly, it was the whirring of a helicopter's blades.  Suddenly, out of nowhere, a Chinook-cobra chopper appeared and then four more. As they reigned down an arsenal of machine gun fire on the enemy troops, a Huey appeared and evacuated all of the men from the hilltop.  Later, Jake asked the commander of the mission how he had known to find them.  Apparently, just after he was hit, Jake's radio operator had sent a brief message asking for help.  The squadron had heard the faint message, so they assembled to launch a mission.

While Jake never would have thought he would be saved, one request, barely audible, from a dying man, had saved.   We too can make a faint request to the Lord, asking for help and deliverance.  He will deliver and He is a fortress, a place to hide when embroiled in the circumstances of life.  Will you not go it alone today, but reach out to the Lord and ask for help?  You may not have the words to say, but He knows your heart and is waiting for you to reach out, even in the simplest ways.  Will you ask today?

Heavenly Father, thank you that You are a refuge and One who never fails us and always delivers us.  Help us to trust you more, knowing that we can wholly lean on you.  In Jesus' name.

Forever Thankful

To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.

Psalm 30:12 (NKJV)

Thought for today: The framed needlepoint on the wall had the quote "Silence is golden."  Maybe years ago, when his house was full of growing children, Jim would have thought that. Now, he sits alone most days even though his wife Mary is living with him.  The deafening silence around him is in stark contrast to the myriad of thoughts running through the halls of his mind.  You see, ungratefulness can lead one down a road that one never thought possible.  

Mary was once Jim's precious treasure.  Yet, as time rolled on, he became less grateful and more critical.  The pressure of raising six children and not being able to agree on a set of defining principles wore at them and caused them to drift apart. Now, sadly, they look at each other more as someone that they are stuck with rather than a gift from God, someone with whom to share life.

Sadly, in our busyness, we can become ungrateful. Sometimes, the ungratefulness is very visible to us and perhaps to those around us.  Other times, we can nurture a secret ungratefulness that is an irritant to our souls.  The later is by far the more dangerous, since we may not even be aware of the ungratefulness until it is too late.

So, how do we deal with ungratefulness?  Recognize it for what it is: sin, plain and simple.  Have you ever given a gift to someone, thinking that it was the perfect gift just to find out on a visit to their house that the gift was never used or, worse yet, given away as a gift so someone else?  Think about how much of a slap on the face it must be to our Lord when we are not grateful for what we He has given.  Would we dare tell him to His face that the gift is not what we wanted?  No, probably not.  Yet, in attitude we are effectively saying this to our most loving Lord.

What are you ungrateful for?  Perhaps you have a strained relationship and think that it has caused you such a burden, dragged you down.  Perhaps your spouse is not the person who you thought he or she would be.  Maybe you are ungrateful for not having all that you want.  The only way to fix this is to cultivate an attitude of gratitude.  As David wrote in the verse above, forever be thankful and sing praise to the Lord.  This day, will you thank Him for all that you have in your life, even the things that you think should be different and the things that you wish you did not have?

Heavenly Father, please forgive us for our attitudes of ingratitude.  You give us wonderful, bountiful gifts.  Yet, we tell you that they are not enough.   You who know our every need indeed does supply just enough at the right time.  You are a God who uses everything to shape us and make us become like You.   This day, may we be thankful for all that you have done, are doing and will do for us.  Amen.