finding shelter in the storms of life

In this day of modern technology we demand the ability to view live events.  We don't want to just read about what is happening or what may be happening we want proof.  And so with every storm comes the footage of the weatherman in the storm.  He gives us firsthand knowledge of the intensity of the weather.  Everyone else in the surrounding area has evacuated because the conditions are not safe. While we love this type of news coverage, there is a point in every storm when the commitment to news becomes ridiculous even to the information seeking viewer.  We begin to yell at the screen for the weatherman to run for safety.  Why is he still out there in that storm?

I thought of this picture the other day and how well it describes the storms in our own life.  We think we are brave and independent to stand out in the storm by ourselves.  But it is all an illusion, pure foolishness.  

When facing a time of stress, conflict, anxiety, or confusion there is a shelter where we can run.  It is not a place, but a who.  Throughout the book of Psalms we read that God is our Refuge, our Fortress, our Rock, our Help in time of trouble.  Living outside of His Fortress, without His Words of Truth, we will be tossed and blown by the wind.  Just like the weatherman standing out in the middle of the storm.  
How do you make God your refuge?  

Ask Him to be your refuge.  It can be as simple as declaring His Words of Truth and acknowledging them in your own spirit.  "My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge" (Ps 62:7) 

Trust Him with your circumstances.  Trust that He is Sovereign and Faithful.  Trust in His love for you.  Trust in the Promises in His Word above your feelings.  In Psalm 95 we learn that God is the Rock of Salvation, LORD, Great God, King above all, that the depths of the earth are in His Hand and that He created the mountains and the sea and dry land.  I think I can trust a God who is all those things!  

It is when we trust Him with our trial that we can experience joy despite our circumstances.  And I think and have experienced much of that comes from commanding our hearts and our bodies to praise.  Reading the Scriptures can result in a great amount of head knowledge but it is in the surrender of ourselves in worship that it makes it's way to our souls.  

Often in times of stress I get defensive and offended and angry and anxious because I do not accept this truth:  It is He who made me and not I myself.  It takes humility to acknowledge my need of God and this can only come when I give ownership of myself to my Creator.  I suffer alone because I do not truly trust Him.  I do not trust Him because I have bought into the lies from the father of lies himself.  Do not think you are beyond his trickery.  Humility is required for satan lives in the heart of the proud.  It is in praise of God that we find relationship with Him and that relationship produces joy.  This is so important because you cannot just focus on being joyful, true joy is the fruit of a relationship with Jesus Christ.  I love Psalm 100 for these times of life.

"Shout joyfully to the LORD all the earth.  Serve the LORD with gladness;  come before Him with joyful singing.  Know that the LORD Himself if God;  it is He who made us, and not we ourselves;  we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.  
Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.  Give thanks to Him, bless His name.  For the LORD is good;  His loving kindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations."