“For thou hast been…a refuge from the storm…” Isaiah 25:4
We live in the south where we have to be prepared for hurricanes. It can be exciting but it can also be scary. When the storms start I’m usually excited to get comfortable with a good book and I enjoy listening to the storm rage outside but when it intensifies or lasts too long then I usually start to get a bit concerned. The storms of life can be like that. We can go through a rough patch and at first we are trusting God and feeling like we can go through this.
As the trial lingers on and on we start to worry more and trust less. God though has a promise for us. He is our shelter so we don’t have to ever reach that point of high anxiety. Psalm 61:3 says, “For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.” There doesn’t have to be any fear or alarm. We do not have to worry about finding a shade during the day nor do we have to feel unprotected by night. God is with us. He will take care of us and be our shelter!
A shade by day, defense by night,
A shelter in the time of storm;
No fears alarm, no foes afright,
A shelter in the time of storm.
Vernon Charlesworth started pastoring a church right during the Civil War. Do you think he needed God’s shelter? The fighting was brutal and disease ripped through the camps. Over 600,000 soldiers lost their lives during this war. This was a dark time in our country’s history but God was still there. He sheltered, protected and cared for His own.
This might not have meant they survived physically but it meant He brought them home to Heaven and rest. Pastor Charlesworth must have seen so much suffering and he wrote hymn after hymn on the greatness of God, His protection and His salvation. I’m sure he read and shared this verse from David often as he helped people find shelter from the war in the loving arms of God. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:10)
