Sometimes, we are so surrounded
with problems, dangers, hurts, attacks, heartache, that we just want
to run. But where do we run?
WHEN YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’RE IN DANGER, WHERE DO
YOU TURN?
Animals
instinctively run to shelter in times of danger. So do people. Where
do you run? Who do you run to?
As a small child, when I was hurt, troubled, scared there was one
place I would run to: MY MOTHER. In her arms, I was comforted no
matter what the problem was. As an adult, I realized that my mother
could not shelter me from everything. When I got married, I turned
to my husband for protection, but he is only human and, no matter
how much he may want to protect me and make the pain and the hurts
go away, he doesn’t have the power to do it. No one does—except God.
And so, now that I have learned that lesson, I run to God and, in
HIS arms, I am comforted and safe—no matter what the situation is.
THESE VERSES
SAY IT ALL:
Psalm 7:10
(NIV) My shield is God Most High, who saves the upright in heart.
Psalm 32: 7
(NIV) You are my hiding place; you will protect me from
trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah
When we are in trouble, when we are afraid, when the battles rises
against us, we can and should run to God—who is our refuge, our
hiding place, our shield. Psalm 32:6
says: 6 Therefore let everyone who is godly
pray to you while you may be found; surely when the mighty waters
rise, they will not reach him. And THEN it goes on to
say“you are my hiding
place, you will protect me and surround me with songs of
deliverance.
Picture
yourself standing on a rock and all around you, the waters are
rising up, threatening to overwhelm you—to drown you. Left to your
own devices, the waters would drown you. BUT YOU’RE NOT LEFT TO
YOURSELF; YOU ARE HIDDEN IN JESUS, SURROUNDED BY SONGS OF
DELIVERANCES. THE WATERS CANNOT EVEN REACH YOU. NOT ONLY ARE YOU
SURROUNDED BY SONGS OF DELIVERANCE, BUT WHEN THE WATERS RISE, THE
ROCK YOU STAND ON (JESUS) RISES HIGHER.
YOU
ARE IN THE SECRET PLACE OF THE MOST HIGH
Psalm 91:1
(AMP)1He
who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty [Whose
power no foe can withstand]
There is only one place
of true safety in this world--in the secret place of the Most
High.
This is a spiritual
place where you are kept hidden and safe from all the plans of the
enemy. Even though you are in plain view of the world, THE ENEMY
CANNOT SEE YOU AND CANNOT REACH YOU. You are living under the shadow
of the Almighty God. It is a place that you need faith to live in
because, though the enemy can't get to you, YOU can see and hear HIM
and if you don't rest in God and trust Him, you will be in fear of
what you see and hear.
You enter the secret
place through the door of faith and trust, through the gates of
thanksgiving and the courts of praise.
Go ahead and enter, if
you are not already inside. Say to God: "You are my refuge and I
trust in You! You keep me safe!" Now, lean back into God's huge arms
and rest assured that NO ONE AND NOTHING CAN HARM YOU! The enemy
might roar, but you can laugh in his face.
PSALM
91:1-4 (MSG)
1
You who sit down in the High God's presence, spend the night
in Shaddai's shadow,
2Say
this: "GOD, you're my refuge. I trust in you and I'm safe!"
3That's right--he rescues you from hidden
traps, shields you from deadly hazards. 4His
huge outstretched arms protect you-- under them you're perfectly
safe; his arms fend off all harm.
There are times when it
seems like all hell is breaking loose around us everywhere we
turn—and there seems to be nothing we can do about it.
There are also times
when the trouble is not around us but IN US. Sometimes, it’s our own fault and we need to repent and change
our actions and our attitude. But, there are other times when it’s
not anything we’ve done and sometimes, we don’t even know WHY we
feel so badly.
BUT IT’S BAD ENOUGH THAT WE WANT TO RUN AND HIDE.
When these things happen, the first thing we need to do is go to
GOD and ask Him to show us what’s happening and WHY---even if we
think we already know the answer. And, we need to LISTEN closely to
God for the answer. Then, we need to go back to God and ask Him what
to do---or if we should do anything. We need to keep praying for the
solution and NOT BE ANXIOUS AND AFRAID!
HOWEVER, THERE ARE TIMES WHEN THERE IS NOTHING WE CAN DO AND EVEN
WHEN NO ANSWER COMES. That’s when we really need to TRUST and take
refuge in our HIDING PLACE---GOD! HE IS OUR REFUGE, OUR HELP, AND
OUR HIDING PLACE.
There will come a time when God will wipe away all tears—on Earth
and in Heaven. Nothing will ever be allowed to hurt us again.
Isaiah 25:8 (AMP) 8 He will swallow up
death [in victory; He will abolish death forever]. And the Lord God
will wipe away tears from all faces; and the reproach of His people
He will take away from off all the earth; for the Lord has spoken
it.
But, God can wipe away our tears NOW. He can turn our mourning into
joy and our sorrow into rejoicing—if we let Him. We just have to run
to Him---run in a good way—not in fear and terror, but in
anticipation of being “hugged” by God.
Then, there are times when we are tired and weary—weighed down by
responsibilities or circumstances—or what we THINK our
responsibilities are. Sometimes, we just want to say “I quit!”
(Sometimes, we’re too tired to even say it)
JESUS SAID IN
MATTHEW
10:28-29 “Come to Me, all you who labor and
are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I
will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]
29Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle
(meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest relief
and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your
souls.”
His yoke is the only
yoke that’s easy and His burden is the only burden that’s light, yet
we sometimes run from it—from what we think He wants us to do. We
think it’s going to be what we don’t want to do—something that will
wear us down. So, we run from HIM and run to do what really IS too
hard for us.
TODAY IS A DAY TO
SEEK REFUGE—TO RUN TO OUR HIDING PLACE—THE SECRET PLACE OF THE MOST
HIGH!
Psalm
32: 7 (NIV) You are my hiding place; you
will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of
deliverance. Selah
