When Dwelling In The Shelter Of The Most High
As often happens, a common theme on several Christian TV broadcasts today is fear and since fear is why we find it so difficult to “Let Go and Let God”, it’s a great topic to follow yesterday’s post, Letting Go. Unfortunately, fear is a natural enemy to all of us as we stand for marriage restoration, because if we give in to it instead of standing on the promises of God, we don’t have the faith and confidence necessary to win the war Satan has waged against us, our husbands and our families. In 2 Corinthians 10:2-6, Paul said I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward
some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete. Obviously God does not want us to wage war like the rest of the world, and Paul makes it very clear that defeating the devil in the spiritual battle for our marriages requires taking our thoughts captive and making them obedient to Christ, but fear keeps us from doing that.
Since there are SO many awesome verses in the Bible about fear, I just chose a few for today’s post, because it’s important for us to study them and meditate on them until they are so much a part of our inner being that NOTHING Satan throws at us can shake us from the confidence we have in them and God’s faithfulness to meet every need and protect us when we rest in the shelter of His wing.
God SO wants us to have the awesome faith and confidence expressed in Psalm 46:1-3, which says God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Now that’s faith in the face of fear! More importantly, and most powerfully, it’s putting faith in the place of fear, because it’s not possible for fear and faith to co-exist. And one of the most awesome examples of overcoming fear with faith is found in Hebrews 16:17-18, which says By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” There’s no point in denying our fear, because that’s unrealistic, but we do need to take Joyce Meyer’s advice and “Do it afraid.” Just like temptation, there’s no sin in temptation, but giving in to it when we’re tempted is what leads to sin. And there’s no sin or shame in being afraid, but the sin and our loss comes when we allow that fear to keep us from walking in the faith needed to please God and make it possible for Him to perform the miracles we need in our marriages and lives. And if that sounds like an overstatement of faith’s power, Matthew 13:57-58 tells us otherwise, because it says And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor.” And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith. Let it never be said that the Lord can not work on our behalf to change our husbands and restore our marriages, because our lack of faith and confidence in His word and faithfulness makes it impossible for us to overcome the fear Satan intends to destroy us and our families.
So when fear threatens to overcome us and keep us from letting go and putting ALL of our trust and confidence in the Lord, we need to listen to Psalm 91. It’s only two minutes long, so it would probably be a very good idea to listen to it often, especially when we’re going through the most difficult times, because it’s VERY encouraging and assures and reminds us that there’s NO reason for fear when we’re DWELLING IN THE SHELTER OF THE MOST HIGH!!
Psalm 91:
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. If you make the Most High your dwelling—even the LORD, who is my refuge-then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
“Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.”