Something about being out with the elements, yet untouched. The rain is pouring down today. Skies are grey. Air is cool. I am safe, protected, unaffected by these happenings around me, covered, and restful under this shelter and under a warming blanket wrapped securely around me.
Just thinking about the abiding we are invited to under the Lord Almighty. To be fully aware of the harsh elements of life that surround us, yet to experience peaceful gifts from the Lord as we abide in Him. We are protected, covered and wrapped securely in His love, given a place of rest as we trust in Him.
I am grateful for these abounding gifts of this heavenly Father. May I not forget His benefits. Salvation, and the Father of mercy and God of compassion and comfort.
Soaking away in God’s goodness and faithfulness – not the elements.
Then, I confess, a crow came along. A very annoying, cawing, cawing, cawing crow. It was unpleasant to my ears, it caused a break in my peaceful prayer time for a moment. I smiled. And immediately after, this little bird came to abide under a shelter of it’s own. I see this same beautiful bird come to this very spot and visit regularly. He sang a beautiful tune that overshadowed the unpleasantries of the cawing crow and sent him off.
How awesome to think how we must praise God in the storm. The opposition that will try to steal our peace. Sing to the Lord. Paul and Silas did in the brutality of the cold prison chains. Harshest of elements upon them, and as they chose to abide in Christ alone, they sang, and God’s presence and power was there at work, removed the opposition of the prison and chains -revealing His glory and power at work. What an encouragement to a Believer.
God reminds me of these scriptures:
My Refuge and My Fortress
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
You will not fear the terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
You will only look with your eyes
and see the recompense of the wicked.
Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place—
the Most High, who is my refuge[—
no evil shall be allowed to befall you,
no plague come near your tent.
For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and the adder;
the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.
“Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
I will protect him, because he knows my name.
When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”
Psalms 91
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all who are oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
For he knows our frame;[a]
he remembers that we are dust.
As for man, his days are like grass;
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.
But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children’s children,
to those who keep his covenant
and remember to do his commandments.
Psalms 103