The Shelter of the Most High

I sat at the edge of the lake while my children played happily in the water nearby. Suddenly a shadow fell across my face. I looked up just in time to see the sun disappearing behind a big dark cloud. High in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, I had been told that often times a sudden down pour of rain could occur in the middle of a beautiful sunny afternoon. Before I could collect my three oldest children and run for shelter, the heavens opened and a down pour of rain came hard and very heavy. I was amazed how quickly the storm had gathered.
Thinking back to that day with all of us huddled together in the shelter wrapped in our wet towels with the clouds moving over us, my mind shouting the name, "Jesus!" always reminds me of another storm.

On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side." 36And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" 39And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40He said to them, "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?" 41And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?" ( Mark 4:35-41 ESV)

Storms arise unexpectedly in our lives, too. A telephone call brings sudden jolting news. A letter brings disappointment. A child has an accident. A small pain develops into a serious illness. Or maybe the source of distress is just the everyday pressures and tensions that build and build until the dark cloud erupts into a storm.

I, too, have had my share of storms. Some have been brief afternoon showers. Others have been caused by tensions that have built up, threatening my serenity and peace. Still others have burst upon my life suddenly, hitting hard and leaving in their wake damage and debris. Like the disciples I have been afraid and have cried out, “Lord, don’t you care?” And later, when all is calm again, I hear Him say, “Chris, why do you have so little faith?”

He has never promised a life free from storms, but he has promised to be with us in the midst of them and to bring us safely to the other side. Psalm 91 is a triumphant song of faith. In it we learn that God is our dwelling place. It’s under His shelter that we are to abide. Join me now and read through Psalm 91. Read it again and again over the next several days. Your life and even the storm will not look the same.

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the LORD, "My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." Psalm 91 :1 (you can continue reading here)

In Him...Chris