Dwelling in the Shelter of the Most High

By Beth White

One thing the Lord has been at work teaching me over the past two years is that I can trust his word absolutely. Psalm 9:10 declares, “Those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.”

The Bible often talks about seeking safety from the troubles of the world in a fortress. We choose which fortress we dwell in: it can be God Himself (impenetrable, unshakeable), or it can be an imaginary cardboard castle. Jesus says that the way to build ourselves a real, solid house of refuge is to take His words to heart and obey them (Matthew 7:24). If we are not asking God to move in our hearts and help us live by all that Jesus says, then we are building a sloppy structure that may seem just fine while the sun is shining but will invite death and destruction when a hurricane comes.

For example, Jesus teaches in plain language that we are not to resist an evil person but in meekness accept what God brings about (Matthew 5:38-42). If I nod my head when I read that in my Bible but then go out into the world and defend my property and fight for my own personal rights, then I am trusting in earthly wisdom. The wisdom of the world says, “God loves me, so of course he wouldn’t want me to endure suffering at the hands of an evil person.” The wisdom of the world leads me to fight for myself, whereas the Bible encourages me that it is the Lord who fights for me (Deuteronomy 3:22; 2 Chronicles 20; Psalm 37). It is essential that we reject worldly wisdom. It is the stuff of cardboard fortresses.

Hope is found in Proverbs 3:5, which reminds me to trust in the Lord with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding. Looking around at my circumstances leads to grumbling and a puny faith. As a worshiper of the living God, I believe that my days are in His hands. I believe that there is eternal blessing to be gained by walking in obedience to His words, and I believe that it is harmful to act counter to God’s word because of a perceived outcome. Let us never forget that looking forward to eternity with our Heavenly Father, we have cause to rejoice over our suffering here on Earth (Matthew 5:11-12; 1 Peter 5:9-10; Hebrews 10:34).

I wonder if we have any inkling of the magnitude of the blessing we reject when we refuse to humble ourselves before our Master. What intimate communion could be ours but is not because we have never yet forsaken our own understanding and wholeheartedly embraced the Lord’s teachings?

Jesus’s words are offensive to our flesh, but He says, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me” (Matthew 11:6). We overcome our flesh through prayer and submission to a God that we can trust as good. In Him, we can turn from the inferior comforts of the world to find the true, unshakeable comfort that he promises.

If it feels impossible to accept ideas that seem to go against our own concept of goodness and justice, we must pray to the God who freely bestows wisdom on all who ask. The things of God are not the same as the things of man, and we are naturally blind to his ways until He opens our eyes. But open our eyes He will, if that is our heart’s true desire. Resting in faith is not the same as doing nothing. It is spiritual warfare. It requires the discipline of prayer and a knowledge of who our Father is and what He wants from us. It takes a willingness to lay down our own desires and plans for our life and joyfully accept whatever He has in store for us. It is the knowledge that when we see a problem, an uncertainty, or an injustice, the first thing we need to do is get on our knees and ask for His wisdom and strength.

Trusting in the Lord does not look like doing nothing; it looks like doing nothing that He did not first call us to. Hebrews 10:23 says, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” To dwell in the shelter of the Most High, to abide in the shadow of the Almighty, we MUST hold fast without wavering. Believe that He is faithful, and rest in Him. It is the only true rest that can be found.

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