Even In Your Troubles: God Is Our Refuge
It is heartbreaking to hear people proclaim that they do not think God loves them because of something they have done or because they no longer feel His presence. They assume God no longer cares.
Nothing could be further from reality.
The first mistake people make is thinking that God does not care or is not with them because of problems in their lives.
“That you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” Matthew 5:45.
We Have The Weapons
We live in a sinful world. We are not immune to trouble because we are Christians. But God gives us tools so we can conquer any negative circumstance. Three of those ‘tools’ are BNW! The blood of Jesus, the name of Jesus, and the Word of God.
Click on the image below to watch my Youtube playlist on The 3 Weapons of Mass Destruction.
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” Psalm 46:1.
We go through storms in our lives. My memoir, Battered Hope, is a story of constant struggle, terror, battering, and brokenness. In the natural, I often felt weak and abandoned.
Any one of these occurrences could have caused me to give up. The loss of a child, a brutal attack on my life, my husband falsely imprisoned, uterine cancer, my husband’s car accident leaving him with brain damage, the estrangement of our son, and many more.
But I had a choice. I could choose to be a victor or a victim. Each of us has the same choice.
The storms of my life that lasted many years could not destroy the promises that God gave me. His presence was constant. He was with me. I knew He would fulfill every promise He made and those storms would become memories – and would never destroy me.
When the disciples were in terror from the storm at sea, Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid. Take courage. I am here” Matthew 14:27.
Take your eyes off the storm and put them on God’s promises in His Word.
Try to imagine what it was like for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who believed in God and trusted Him. “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him” Daniel 3:28.
Daniel records how King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon made a towering golden statue and commanded everyone in his kingdom to bow down before it and worship it.
But those three young men whom the king had appointed to oversee the province of Babylon refused to do so. The king was humiliated by their defiance. He warned them one last time, “Bow down and worship the golden statue or be thrown into a blazing furnace.”
“O Nebuchadnezzar,” they responded, “we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the furnace, the God whom we serve is ABLE to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. But even if He does not, we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue” Daniel 3:16-18
In anger, the king commanded that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than usual. He ordered some of his strongest soldiers to bind the three men and throw them into the furnace. It was so hot that the flames killed the soldiers as they threw the men into the flames, securely bound.
But…..God. God honors His Word and your faith. He honored these three young men’s faith. When the king looked at the blaze, he asked the officials, “Did we not cast three men bound into the middle of the fire?”
“True, O king.”
“Look! I see four men loose and walking in the middle of the fire. They are not hurt and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God” Daniel 3:24-25.
Nebuchadnezzar called out, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out!”
The three men stepped out of the fire and everyone crowded around them and exclaimed, “The fire has not touched them. They do not even smell like fire. Their hair was not singed, nor their clothing scorched.”
The flames……DRUM ROLL……..only served to loose them from their bonds.
This caused the king to rejoice and begin to praise God. He then issued a decree that if any person spoke a word against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they would be cut in pieces and their houses would be turned into ash heaps.
The king proclaimed, “There is no other god who can deliver like this” Daniel 3:29. This is OUR God. Our heavenly Father protects us when we choose to believe Him and His Word.
Even In Our Troubles...
Are you aware that God has promised that no weapon formed against you shall prosper? (Isaiah 54:17) Please notice that Isaiah does not say that weapons will not be formed against you – he says they cannot hurt or defeat you.
There are weapons formed against humanity, especially in these last days. There are viruses, sicknesses, and diseases. There are wars, disasters, financial collapses, violence unemployment, and famines.
I know people who watch the news during the day and before they go to bed at night. It is one thing to be informed of what is happening in the world and quite another to make a diet of negativity.
If we spend our time acknowledging God’s presence in our lives, committing our days to Him, trusting the promises in His Word, and thanking Him for unmerited favor, wisdom, strength, and joy we then live in expectation of what God is doing in our lives and realize we have nothing to fear.
“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High, to declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness every night” Psalm 92:1 -2.
God’s presence in your life is a guaranteed constant. It is not based on your circumstances. It is based on what God tells us in His Word.
If you refuse to bow to your circumstances and continue to be conscious of the Lord’s presence, wherever you are, whatever your environment, you will rise above those situations.
Look to your source of strength. Never. Ever. Give Up Hope.