Has the “restful” summer you planned fallen into drudgery and exhaustion? Take heart! God calls us to rest. This fall, we will be studying that call with the teaching series, “Times of Refreshing: Rethinking Work and Rest.” I invite you to join our class or to listen online.
Below are some thoughts from my very special friend and Divine Design Leader Martha Bailey. Recently, the Lord has been teaching her (as well as our entire team!) about resting in God’s character.
THE SHADOW OF THE ALMIGHTY
“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” Ps. 91:1
To dwell in the shelter of the Most High is to stay connected to my heavenly Father. It is to meditate…live…ABIDE in His presence. It is to eat His words and to drink so deeply of His spirit that He sustains my inner emotional life.
To dwell in His shelter is to know by experience that He is my shelter from the storms of this world – from the tornadoes of sudden grief to the high winds of situations I cannot control.
He is my shelter, my place of refuge; when fears and doubts arise, His word and His spirit give me peace, comfort, safety, and direction.
He alone gives wisdom, light and life. As I dwell in His shelter, I rest in His shadow. His shadow is not a place where I feel overpowered, lost, or invisible, but it is the place where I am empowered to be who He made me to be.
I have spent plenty of time in the shelter of others. I have experienced the temporary comfort of the approval of people. But I am beginning to see that when pleasing people is my goal, I am choosing to live in their shelter and in their shadow.
When I run to the shelter of man’s approval, I lose myself – my choice and my voice – the very things that my heavenly Father is calling forth in me. When I live to please others, I am overpowered by them, and I live in their shadow, looking to them for my next move. I become too connected to them, like a shadow to a person – inseparable.
Instead, my Father God, my most gracious, wise heavenly Father, is calling me to live in His House of Shelter, which is my safe place of rest. There He talks to me individually, tells me who I am, and empowers me to be who He called me to be.
He instructs me, and lovingly corrects me. He shows me the works that He created for me from before the beginning of time.
He is the Most High. He forgives me for making other people, things, and situations the Most High in my life.
Only in His shelter will I rest. There I can BE and not just DO. In His shelter I will be-come like Jesus. In His shelter, I am empowered in my spirit, not overpowered by people or circumstances.
In His shelter, I am free to be me, and this pleases my Most High, Almighty, and ever personal Father.
In which shelter do you dwell? In whose shadow do you live?