God is my Safe Place

Surely He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly plague. He will cover you with His feathers; under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day.

Psalm 91:3-5

I don’t know exactly when I realized that God is my safe place. He is my safe place wherever I am. I go to God with my troubles. I cling to Him when I am afraid. I trust God to keep me safe. God is my Rock. He is my fortress. God is my ever present help in times of trouble. Every day is a good day because God is in it.

God covers me with His feathers.

I love the imagery of God covering me with His feathers. This is a protective stance of a mother bird with her baby birds under her wings. It is also a loving stance as we see a mother’s care for her youngsters. Just like a fledgling knows his mother will protect him, I know my Father in Heaven will protect me in the storms of life. I can rest in this knowledge of my heavenly father.

This does not mean there won’t be any storms in my life. It does mean that God is with me through the storm. God does not abandon His children. He is like a mighty fortress in which I find safety and help, in which I find my courage and strength to face whatever befalls me.

God is faithful

God never waivers nor capitulates. He remains strong, valiant, courageous. We see this in Christ, in His confrontations, trial, beating, and death on the cross. We see a measure of this same strength in Christ’s devoted followers–His disciples, the Apostle Paul, and Christian martyrs. They were pillars of faith; resolute, unyielding, firm in their faith. We may be called to stand alone for our faith. Should that happen, God will give us the courage and strength at the time when we need it. One person can make a difference.

There is a story of a monk in Roman days who had gone to the Colosseum to watch a gladiator match. As he watched the gladiators fight to the death he was appalled by the evil for what it was. He was so impacted by what he saw that he ran down the steps to intervene, yelling, ” Stop! This isn’t right. Stop!” He ran down to the ring where the gladiators were fighting. According to one account, they ran him through. According to legend, the emperor was so impressed by the monk’s bravery, and the crowd so affected by his actions that this became the last gladiatorial match in the Colosseum. You can read about it here.

We can rest in Him

Psalm 78:35 says, “They remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer.” Many are the hymns which we sing that express this truth about God, that Jesus is the Rock upon which we stand.

• “On Christ, the Solid Rock, I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.”
• “O, Jesus is a Rock in a weary land–a Shelter in a time of storm.”
• “The wise man built his house upon a Rock.”

Trust in God is a mighty assurance to us in our faith. Our trust has the ability to grow. I trust God more today that I did 10 years, 5 years, and one year ago. My trust grows exponentially. I am learning to trust God with more of my stuff as I have learned He is gracious, willing, and able to bear it. We can be hesitant to trust Him with our complicated issues, but He gets us, and He wants us to trust Him with it. He is a trustworthy God, and He never fails us. The challenge for me is to trust God with my burdens and leave them with Him. I want to worry, when He says, “Trust Me.” Then it becomes an exercise in re-giving my burdens back to Him.

I’m so glad that God is our Divine Protector, that He covers us with His feathers. He has our best interest at heart. We can trust Him with every burden. And best of all, we need not fear Him, for He is a kind, loving, gracious Father.

Whoever 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.” -Psalm 91:1-2

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I wish you well on your spiritual journey.