And don’t dare think about messing with the mother eagle’s babies. For along with the great power of flight comes the protection of her powerful wings for her chicks. She will fiercely defend her nest and her young, protecting them from danger and attack. Very few predators will come near the eagle's nest to attack the young because of the nest’s lofty position and those who do are in for the fight of their lives to get to those chicks. As long as they stay in the nest, close to their mother, they are safe.
Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
This I declare about the LORD:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
he is my God, and I trust him.
For he will rescue you from every trap
and protect you from deadly disease.
He will cover you with his feathers.
He will shelter you with his wings.
His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
(Psalm 91:1-4 NLT)
Abiding in the presence of God provides safety and protection; it is a place of refuge. Like the eagle’s nest high in the rocky cliffs, the presence of God is a place of shelter. In fact, it is the shelter of “the Most High”. When we abide in His presence, we are safe because God is high and exalted in glory and authority above everything. In God’s presence we find rest because we abide in the shadow of a God who is all-powerful, stronger than any foe that might come against us.
Abiding in the presence of God means that I am looking for help and protection from God and God alone. “He alone is my refuge, my place of safety.” I don’t rely on my strength, thinking, or skills, or anyone else’s. In His presence, I know His perfect care and protection and I have no reason to look around for help anymore, for I trust in God alone. When I abide in the presence of His loving care and protection, I don’t even think about looking for another source of help. I am secure. I am at rest. I have peace.
Abiding in God’s sheltering presence does not mean that all the dangers and attacks cease. The hunters are still out there. The traps are still set. There are still other threats to life and vitality out there. But, in His presence, you know complete protection and rescue from whatever comes along to destroy. The threat of harm and death may be very real, but not as real as God’s presence. Not as real as His protection. Nothing, absolutely nothing can touch His beloved children except under His protection, except that He is allowing it for a very good reason. As the mother eagle will sometimes push the little eaglet out to stretch its wings or learn to face its foes, so God orchestrates challenges in our lives to strengthen us, to grow us up. But it is always under His care and protection. He will never let it get out of hand. He will never let us be destroyed. He is always there to cover us “with His feathers” and “shelter us with His wings”. The dangers and attacks may threaten, but they can never destroy.
How can we be so confident? How can we know that we are safe in His presence? Sometimes, it really looks and feels like we’re going down, we’re going to be defeated, we’re going to be wasted. How can I be so sure this is not going to end really, really bad?
“His faithful promises are your armor and protection.” God never broke a promise. Never. Never. Please let that sink in. God has never been unfaithful. God has never not kept His word. He is more faithful than the rising and setting of the sun each day. Believe your beliefs and doubt your doubts. No, totally and forcefully reject your doubts. Believe, even preach to yourself the truth that God never breaks a promise!
OK, that’s all well and good, God never beaks a promise. But give me a promise that I can cling to! These thoughts come to our minds – to my mind, and I am immediately convicted. How could I say, “Give me a promise I can cling to”? I know so many promises. You know so many promises. But the truth is, we really only need one. It is one that most Christians have memorized. We know it so well, it is so familiar, that we ignore that it’s there. This is the one verse of scripture that I am convicted by more than any other in all of scripture.
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good
to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
(Romans 8:28 NAU)
You may wonder why I am convicted by this verse. Isn’t this a verse of comfort and confidence? Yes, it is, but I see how often I don’t believe it. I see my failure to trust God and believe His promise so clearly and unmistakably made in this verse. I see my anxiety, worry, and fear. And I am deeply convicted.
One promise is enough to give me peace and rest and confidence in the face of the worst life can throw at me. One promise is enough to be my armor and protection. But, let me share with you another.
Aren't two sparrows sold for a penny?
Yet not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will.
Even all the hairs on your head are numbered.
(Matthew 10:29-30 NET)
Here’s the point. Sparrows are virtually worthless. Yet, God’s sovereign care over His creation is so detailed and all-encompassing that not even one sparrow ever dies except by the will of God. God cares for the most minute events in His creation. And what about man, the glory of His creation? What about those specially created in the image of God? Those who are “crowned with glory and honor (Psalm 8:5)”? What about the objects of His divine love? Not one hair is outside of His providential care and protection. Not one hair!
This is huge! What a promise! Think about this. God’s providential care and protection extends even to every single hair on your head. If God’s care focuses on a single hair, don’t you think the huge challenges you think will overwhelm you are also under His care? Every hair is under His care. Certainly the big stuff is under His care too. Nothing, absolutely nothing can touch you except under the providential care of “your Father”. Your loving, merciful, gracious, faithful Father is orchestrating the events of your life – down to the loss of a single hair – according to His all-knowing, all-wise plan for your highest good and His highest glory!
This is what it means to abide in God’s presence. It is a place of calm, peace, shelter. I know I have come into God’s presence because I feel safe, I know rest, no matter what is going on around me. If I am still plagued with doubt, fear, and worry, I need to persist in concentrated meditation on the character of God particularly His sovereignty, knowledge, wisdom, power, goodness, and faithfulness. I need to concentrate my thoughts on the promises of God. I must not give up pursuing the intimate, personal presence of God until I am fully at the place of peace and rest, confident that all is well because He is my shelter, because He has promised that not a hair on my head is outside His providential care.
My Father, how sweet it is to abide in your presence. You are glorious, majestic, perfect, infinite. You are my rock, my refuge, my shelter, my sure defense. I know I am safe in your care. I know nothing can touch me either physically, emotionally, or spiritually as I abide here in your presence. In your presence, I gain perspective. I see that all is well, not because all is going according to my plan, but according to your plan. And, I confess, I embrace the truth that your plan is the perfect plan for my highest good and your highest glory no matter how it might look to me from my finite human perspective. I will choose to rest in your sovereign care and trust you. I love you, and I love the joy, the glory of fellowship with you in your presence.
SDG
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