My Rock!

My Rock!

Psalm 18:2 AMPC

[2] The Lord is my Rock, my Fortress, and my Deliverer; my God, my keen and firm Strength in Whom I will trust and take refuge, my Shield, and the Horn of my salvation, my High Tower.

Pause for a moment and reflect on the clear message at the top of the chapter from where the verse above is taken. It reads: 'A psalm of David the servant of the Lord, who spoke the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul'. This is the man who had been taken from total obscurity as a shepherd boy, and made the king over Israel. He had been anointed in secret, but before long, the whole nation had known about it. He is referred to as the servant of the Lord, and of course, we know that God called this same servant a man after His own heart. 

Who says being backed up by God will keep you away from trials or tough times? Who says that being a child of God insures you from rough waves and strong winds? God too does not promise such anywhere in His Word; what is guaranteed is a life filled with His power and presence. What is guaranteed is that whatever He allows to come our way is carefully calculated and calibrated to bring out His best in us. Like the pharmacist that He is, amongst many other things, He will not bring on us more than we can bear, and He will also make a way of escape for us, so we can be standing at the end of it all. That is what we have access to. 

As the verse above makes clear, you do not make claims without having a personal encounter with the One who can supply that which you need. You cannot speak quite confidently about an encounter you do not have. When David refers to God as his rock, fortress, deliverer, his God, his strength, these are things that are best understood from personal experience. You do not use such personal words for someone you only have a passing acquaintance with. These words are also from a place of struggle and victory, a place of warring and overcoming, and a place of pain turned into strength. Do you know or have anything to do with this God?

How else would I appreciate the value of a rock or fortress if I never had to run from trouble into a safe place? The value of who I know and what I have will best be appreciated when trouble comes. It is not a matter of IF but WHEN. Being a child of God is the best relationship I could ever have. He is the One who can preserve from all evil. He is the One who gives me a safe place to rest, before I have to face the world again. He is the One who saves me, and even when I am weary and broken, He picks me, cleans me up, and still sets me on the path to relevance and impact. Who else can do what God does? Again I ask: do you know and have Him? God's time of favour is here.