A Rock Where No Enemy Can Reach Me

Another shooting.

Funnel clouds forming.

People dying.

Families broken.

Lives shattered.

Hatred rules.

Where is safety?

It was another quiet Sunday. Church had just ended. All seems normal until some motorcycles ride onto the church property. The pastor and 5 other men are pulled out and ordered “Convert to Islam or die.” They refuse, and they are executed, one-by-one behind the church.*

Yes, this is a normal Sunday afternoon in Burkina Faso and in many other countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Many news agencies, including the BBC, are reporting that thousands and thousands are being slaughtered for their Christian faith, to the point it is being called genocide. 

Where is safety?

Twelve people in Virginia Beach are murdered by a co-worker of 15 years. Others are wounded. Lives are gone.

Where is safety?

Almost 500 tornadoes strike in May, some are huge, over a mile wide. Some come in the day, some at night. The power of God is displayed in a vortex of wind and devastation.

Where is safety?

Psalm 62:5-8 teaches us that God alone is your safe place. Wherever you live, God is your rock, your fortress, your safe place. Life is short, fragile, and subject to radical change in a heartbeat. Whether you live in Virginia Beach or Burkina Faso, or anywhere else there is only one place where you are secure. David experienced this reality in his life over and over again. He knew what it meant to live with his life in danger. He knew where to find safety:

Let all that I am wait quietly before God,
for my hope is in him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress where I will not be shaken.
My victory and honor come from God alone.
He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.
O my people, trust in him at all times.
Pour out your heart to him,
for God is our refuge.

True, lasting safety is not secured by peaceful circumstances and pleasant weather. God is our refuge and our fortress. He has secured our place of safety through the death and resurrection of his son, Jesus. David was anticipating the coming Messiah who was his reason for life and hope. This is where he found safety.

Whether your circumstances are pleasant or awful, whether the climate is inviting or terrifying, your God is in control of everything. He will make sure that his name is honored so that you can know him more deeply. The greatest good any of us can have is to know God more deeply. Relationships are not static, they are not designed to stay the same. Relationships are designed to grow and become stronger. Knowing God more deeply is the one place where safety resides. No enemy, no storm, no attack can reach you if God is your refuge!

Where is safety? It is found only in God.


 

Shepherd Press