The power of nature is overwhelming. Humanity has accomplished incredible things, and we have never before seen such astonishing advancements in science and technology. Yet despite our advancements, we are left with a feeling of frailty in the face of the force of a category 4 hurricane. We realize how small we are as we experience the raising flood waters. We realize how helpless we can be in the wake of tsunami’s, earthquakes, and forest fires. It is overwhelming.
As we are dealing with the destruction left behind from the hurricanes, earthquakes, and fires that we have seen over the past couple weeks, I am drawn to Scriptures like Psalm 91, and our Christian hope of our Shelter.
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.
The Rains Will Fall
One of the most perplexing ideas that we discover in our lives and in Scripture is that the righteous and the wicked share the common experience of the storms of life. We all experience both the up’s and down’s of this life. Jesus said in Matthew 5:45b, “For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” Regardless of who you are, you will face both the “sun” and the “rains” of life. We will navigate through difficult seasons, trials, and struggles, and this truth is an unescapable reality of our human condition.
The promise of the Christian life is not a life without rain. Rather, the promise of the Christian life is that we have a shelter in the rain. And, as the storm comes and the storm waters rise, our first and primary need is shelter, and there is nothing more urgent.
Christ, Our Shelter
The beauty of a shelter is that it will take the punishment of the storm so that you don’t have to. As the storm rages, the shelter takes the force of the storm so that the people inside do not. The rain, the floods, the wind crash into the shelter while sparing all those within the safety of its walls from its fury and destruction.
Christ is our shelter. Christ took the force of the storm so that those in Him can cling to Him in the storms of life.
The imagery of this Psalm is powerful. Our God does not reach down and remove His children from the storms of life. Instead, our God came down. He left his rightful place, and took the form of a man, (Philippians 2:6-8) and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. (John 1:1) So that, Christ our Lord and Savior, sympathizes with us in our weakness and our fear as we navigate through the storms of our lives. (Hebrews 4:14-16) Both today and for all eternity, Christ is our shelter. Christ came and has invited you to come to Him, and as we do, we are able to say along with the Psalmist and in the presence of the storm…
I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.” – Psalm 91:2 (ESV)