Protection

Ever feel like you don’t measure up? Ever seem like life’s assignment is beyond your skill level? Convinced that you don’t have what it takes? Don’t feel alone. The line of inadequacy stretches around the block, but you don’t have to stand stuck in the long line. Step out and find where these emotions can be addressed.

Ever wonder if God truly cares for you, is on your side, has your best interest in mind, and has your back? Check out today’s passage, where God promised to take care of Israel. They did not have to fear. He was coming to their rescue. He would not allow them to be desolate and helpless like a poor widow. Isaiah wrote,

Strong fortified walls from fifteen to twenty-five feet thick and twenty feet high surrounded ancient cities. Built into these walls were towers at each corner and at other places in the wall where an enemy might attack. Each tower had its own entrance, a staircase to the top, and a stash of weapons. Towers were the place to run to when the enemy was attacking. These towers were called migdal-oz in Hebrew. The same word is also translated as “stronghold.”

Ancient armies had two types of shields. A large shield was carried in one hand for full body protection. An army could huddle together and raise these shields over their heads as a defensive barrier when fiery arrows were falling from the sky. The shield carried in the other hand was smaller and used for hand-to-hand combat or personal safety when rocks were hurled from the top of city walls. For the believer, God is our shield.

Fortresses were not built in the middle of the plains. Rather, they were built in high places, on top of or into the side of a mountain. So, with that background, check out today’s passage.

Sooner or later, everyone needs a safe place, a protected place—cover from a blasting storm. When the sleet of illness pelts your life, when the downpour of grief drenches your heart, when the winds of anxiety threaten to knock you down, you need a secret place, a hiding place to escape from those things threatening to knock the props from your life. You need the shelter of the Most High!

We all need a place of refuge. Life hits us hard and uproots what we thought was secure. Our strength is broken down. If we are fortunate, we huddle with others, but even then, no person can save us from the storm. Only One can.

Are you exhausted from the battle? Need some rest? Refuge? Protection? Shelter from a storm that is pelting you with anxiety and fear? Time to find “The Rock.”

Do you ever feel like retreating? Escaping from it all? Holing up in a safe place? Christians in every generation have the same temptation—the allure to retreat from the world. From business to education to recreation, there is a desire to only be involved with other believers. One problem ... that was not the intention of Jesus.