Strong Tower

For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe. Psalm 61:3

I’m pretty certain that the “strong tower” here is a safe place for the author of this psalm. A place where he may be high; and the enemy is far below. I imagine that, should the tower be laid siege against, being higher would be a better place to defend from. The fact that it is “strong” would also mean that it could not be battered against, nor broken into. Those who take shelter here can rest because it is safe from the enemy.

But in modern day Claremore, Oklahoma, there aren’t a lot of places we call strong towers. Not a lot of sky risers in the horizon of the town I live in. I wonder if I struggle to understand this verse and what it means because there’s just not a lot of places I “run to” for safety. There’s not a lot of places I call safe havens except for my own home. Maybe that’s the point….

Where does a person feel safer than any other place in the entire world? I know for me, it is often my own home. I come in, kick off my shoes, hang up my hat and breathe a sigh of relief that it is good to be home…I settle in. Here I enjoy the comfort of the furniture and luxuries that the Lord has blessed me with. Here I have shelter from the hottest sun, the wettest rain, and the coldest snow. Here I am surrounded by my family and often time, my friends. I lock the doors and sleep well at night, knowing that my home is secure and safe. Don’t get me wrong, I am not fool enough to believe my home could never be broken into, but the point is, that here I feel safe. My mind is at rest in my own home, I do not feel threatened in my house, and I have very little worry of the outside world and the troubles of life when I rest in my home.

Shouldn’t the Lord be this way for those who call upon the name of Jesus Christ? We shouldn’t worry about harm befalling us because God is who He says He is. He is so huge compared to any other trouble we might find ourselves in and He is a Protector. The Father loves us, He loves righteousness, and He loves truth, HE IS GOD!

Life might not turn out the way we hope it will sometimes because of some very stupid decisions we often make. Let’s face it, when you DO stupid, you GET stupid. But when you trust in God, and leave worries and troubles in His hands, much like you hang your hat on the dresser’s mirror or your shoes slung in the closet, He gets the glory because you are doing exactly what He wants…trusting Him.

Beat Up…but Standing

Ephesians 6:13

“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

I love the movie “Rocky”; who doesn’t?  It’s a movie of passionate endurance, a guy who was “a BUM” to a man who would not quit and would not be denied.  So what if the fight was supposed to be staged, whether Rocky had the smarts to know  that or not, he was going to do his best to make a good fight.  Throughout the movie we watch a poor guy do what he had to do in order to equip himself for the fight of his life.  He got a trainer, one that was tough on him and kept him going.  He didn’t have a punching bag, so he punched meat.  He didn’t have a treadmill, so he chased chickens and ran a couple of miles outside.  He prepared himself well.  He strove to do well.  All so when the fight was finished, he could be the man “to stand.”  Apollo didn’t make it easy on him either, final fight of the movie we see Rocky do what he had come to do, and it turned his face into a catcher’s mitt; bloody and swollen.  We all cringe as we see each blow to his head and all the viewer can think is “come on man, DUCK!”  Then at last, both fighters go down and it’s a race to see who will stand, but through it all, it can be said that he did stand.

Today it seemed like there were several times life punched me in the face; and there were several times I punched back!  I didn’t want to, a couple of times I wanted to just quit!  Just get up and walk out and be done with it.  Yet a remembrance that God was with me, whether life was fair weathered or stormy caused me to go to my corner, take a breath, get a drink of water from the fountain of life, get some advice from my trainer (Bible), whine and complain a little (pray)  and go take yet another swing at what I thought was a lousy situation.  Yes, I got a black eye, yes it hurt my pride quite a bit that I didn’t have everything completely under control and yes, I may have got knocked down a couple of times.  But I got back up and God was still there with me, and the saints were still cheering me on (Hebrews 12:1).  A lot of times I think the Christian reads Ephesians 6:13 and believe they have to do certain actions in order to put on the armor of God and then just stand there…but armor is for battle!  Fight the good fight and keep punching for the Lord.  Life gets lousy?  Get tough with it, but do it according to God’s word, be honest and fair, even when it hurts, so in the end, we may have done all to stand.

Rest

“But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days.”  Daniel 12:13

Did anyone roll down their window today?  Man the weather was BEAUTIFUL!  I was contemplating on the way home what a nice day it was.  The trees were green, there was a nice breeze, the sun was warm and nice but the shade was cooler and nice.  I turned up my radio to some worship music and sang my heart out…although I got some strange looks at stop lights I’m sure.  Today was one of those days where everywhere you looked someone was smiling because the weather was perfect.  Work was pretty good today too, I finished the tasks I had at hand and really didn’t have any other “work” that weighed heavy on my mind.  I was resting.  It was an active rest, praising the Lord and driving home, but it was rest just the same.  I just imagine there were some other people feeling the same way I did on their way home, I hope there were anyway.

Our attitude about life is a lot like our attitude about the weather I think.  Very few times do we just enjoy it inexplicably. There are few days out of the year where we are just thrilled to death with what the weather is doing, and if we are thrilled with it we are busy watching the news to see if it will last or what the next bad forecast will be.  

To the believer, there are trials and tribulations that we sometimes don’t understand.  God’s people aren’t exempt from trouble.  We look to God during bad times and ask “Why is this happening to me?”   Well…why isn’t it happening to you?  The truth is, God will be with you no matter what you are going through.  This life is sometimes like the weather, it is sometimes uncomfortable because it’s too hot and humid, or too cold and frigid, or it’s a soaking rain, or it’s too dry…we always have something to say about the weather and our life.  Yet there are those days that are perfect!  And when we get to Heaven, there will be perfect days where we can rest, but until then, labor on…rain or shine, Jesus is with us.