Redeemed & Esteemed

“I love you, LORD, my strength.
The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” Psalm 18:1-2

Do you ever find that when you are walking around, minding your own business and least expect it, God will speak to you? I have had an amazing week this week walking with the Lord. It has been far from easy, and definitely not uneventful, but God has spoken to me in the midst of my circumstances, and I end this week full of love for Him. I DO love you, LORD, my strength.

I have to admit that I don’t usually learn what God is trying to show me very easily and the lesson He has trying to teach me in recent weeks about trusting Him and turning only to Him, has been no exception. God sometimes needs to use all means possible to get it through to me and He has given me many opportunities this week to decide where I am going to take refuge when things get hard. David knew what it was to take refuge in God. In Psalm 18, he declares that the LORD is his rock, his fortress and his deliverer; his God is his rock in whom he takes refuge (v2). Is God my refuge as well? This has been the question at hand. Do I turn to God for strength and protection, or do I turn to something else?

God even used a child to paint a very powerful illustration of one of the things that I do when I feel threatened, instead of turning to God. This child was upset about something and instead of coming to me to discuss it, which would have dealt with the issue; he put himself into a corner, and used all the tables and chairs around him to build up a fort. He believed that if he hid himself, all the problems of the world would fade away. As he stood behind the wall of protection he had made, mumbling and venting about all that was wrong, I said to him, “Hey buddy, you let me know when you are ready to come out and talk to me, because building up a fortress and hiding yourself is not really solving the problem you are upset about is it?” Hmmm….seems I’ve heard that message somewhere before and as I stood looking at this grumbling child behind a wall of tables and chairs, I very quickly saw myself hiding behind the walls I build up around my heart when things in my own life don’t go as I had planned. I too start trying to build up protection with my own hands and do things under my own strength instead of going to the One who can either solve the problem or carry me through it. Our Father lovingly waits for us to come to Him in prayer and talk about the things that concern us and threaten us, but this is not always our first reaction. He longs to pull us under his wing of protection, and even though I am prone to wander, this is truly the only place my heart longs to be.

Father, I long to have a heart like David’s that runs to You for refuge, but I have to confess that I do try to do things my own way. Lord, help me and teach me to rely on You alone. I want to turn from my ways of independence and self-effort and turn to You. My All-Powerful God, I love You. You are my strength and I would rather be standing in the middle of a battlefield surrounded on all sides looking to You to be my fortress, than to be found hiding in a corner trying to protect myself. You are my deliverer, and I ask that you deliver me from own self-protecting ways. You alone are God, and I give you all honour and praise. In the saving Name of Jesus, I pray, amen.