Kept!

Kept!

Psalm 119:114 AMPC

[114] You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word.

It is not known who wrote this psalm, but there is no doubt as to its source, which is the Holy Spirit. The entire chapter consists of 176 verses, divided into 22 sections of 8 verses each. Each section makes reference to God and His Word and Inspiration, and encourages the readers to know, understand and embrace the value and blessings that God and His Word can give. As you read the verses of the Bible too, you find many examples of men and women who heard God speak, took Him at His Word, and impacted the times and seasons they were placed. Nothing has changed even in our own times today; we still have a God who seeks to change lives by His Word, we have a dying world in need of a Saviour and we have vessels that continue to be available in every generation and dispensation, who want to be used by this God to change lives and impact their world. 

Do you know this God, and are you willing and ready to be a tool in His hands for such a time like this? There is, however, a note of caution in the verse above. As mighty as God is, and as powerful and undefeatable He is, there is wisdom in doing whatever He commands the way He commands it, and at the time He commands it. You read of men who fought and overcame lions and bears, and men who, in obedience to God, with just a shout and the sounds of trumpets, brought down the walls of Jericho, yet you read here where the same God is presented as a hiding place and a shield. It may not look like the image of the God that we want, but this is first and foremost for my benefit, not God's. God does not need protecting from anything or anyone; He is the One who does the protecting. It is only IN and BY Him that I can face whatever comes my way. 

Before I dare confront or face whatever may come, it is critical that that thing finds me IN this God. There is a time to move on ahead and challenge what is ahead, and there is a time to simply find refuge in God until the storm passes. God is no fool, and His power and omniscience make it possible for me to rest IN Him when it is time for it, and to be fully energised for the tasks ahead, when they are also due. This is where the Word of God also comes in; I move at His command, not on a whim or something coming from me. I do what He commands, not what I desire. I do not even have the faintest idea what will happen in the next second, but there is a God who has mapped out my life, and ordained its impact. No one else can do or give what He is, and I am safe IN Him. I do not settle for the lies of the devil; He is all I need. What is your own decision? God's time of favour is here.