Bold. Confident. Courageous. Brave.
Stand firm for what is right and true. Praying. Fasting. Focused.
It all sounds so powerful. In reality, it hurts. It’s a lot of guts and very little glory. Lonely. Outcast. Misunderstood. Called weak.
If this resonates with you. Stay the course. Dig deeper. Pray harder. Seek shelter.
Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1
This scripture has been quoted time and time again by many with varying degrees of understanding of its profound power and promise.
Living in the shelter of the Most High.
When I live somewhere it’s home. The place I come to with an address. People, typically family, are there with me. People I know well. More importantly people that intimately know me. The good, bad, and ugly. They “know” me. The me that most others don’t really know. My strengths, weaknesses, insecurities, flaws, and gems of my heart only exposed to a very few who I know without a shadow of a doubt will love and protect me, even in my most vulnerable moments.
Home is the place I run to. The place I return to after a long day. The place I know my way around in the middle of the night without light to guide me. When something is out of place I stub my toe. It hurts. So I put it in its place and continue on. Sometimes home is a place of rest. And other times it’s a lot of work. I have to tend to my home to take care of my home. But I do it. Because it’s my home.
Living in the shelter of the Most High is like home. It’s an address, a place. A place of His undeniable presence where our guard is down and we become exposed and vulnerable. Our family is there. Our Father is there. He loves with tender mercy and forgiveness for our flaws. Even the ones most intimate only he knows them. He welcomes us into home with him. We have to work to tend to our home with him too. We have to spend time in our home. Submit ourselves to our home. Be vulnerable in our home. Clean and prepare the home for inhabiting. It takes growth, effort, and sacrifice on our part to build the home into a place where we know our way around in the dark of night without clear sight of light. Put things in their place. Spend time in the dark walking and finding our way to the light of morning. That my friend is living in the shelter of the Most High.
We mistakenly think meditating in our own thoughts, mind, and at our convenience is living in the shelter. In reality, we haven’t lived in the shelter (home). We have visited without entering. We have stopped by, maybe frequently, but stood outside the door and peered inside. We haven’t truly experienced.
How do we live in the shelter of the Most High. How do we enter the door and make it our home.
We submit ourselves over to his presence, his thoughts, his heart, and his ways. Completely. In his language. A special language between you and him only.
This, is where we find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. Where we find strength, focus, boldness, courage, and the precious power of his promise.
This, is where, we fight our battles.
Friend, I want to encourage you today. Get into the shelter of the Most High. Keep going there. Intentionally and purposefully make it your home. As you wander the dark of the night you’ll know your way around without even a stub of your toe. His words says so.
If you’re mocked, pray.
If you’re doubted, pray.
If you’re questioned, pray.
If you lose friends, pray for them.
If you lose family, pray harder and pray for them.
If you’re all alone, pray.
If you’re scared, pray.
If you’re judged for not doing enough, pray.
If you’re called a weak passive Christian, pray.
Your bible says in 2 Corinthians 10 that while others may perceive you as timid and weak to remember, we don’t wage war as humans do. We use mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to break down strongholds.
Keep yourself with a repentant heart, a sanctified mind, and feed your spiritual man with the truth and authority of the living God inside of you. Praise yourself into his presence where your shelter is. Let it be where your hope, strength, joy, and faith comes from. Be faithful to your calling. Pray. Fast. Be faithful. Live in the shelter of the Most High finding rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
Bobbie
