God Our Shield

“Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield.” Psalms 33:20

There are so many things in this life that have the ability to grip us with such intense fear and anxiety that it seems as if life and time itself stops and every ounce of hope you thought that you had is dried up. There are times when life has the ability to hit you so hard in the gut with the unexpected that you find yourself asking God why…

It can seem as if God all of a sudden turns His back on you and that life as you know it is gone.

The past week for me has been that way. My family and I suffered heartache after heartache. Pain after pain. Unexpected loss after unexpected loss.

I never doubted God at any point, but I was very confused as to what was going on. I could not see how God would be able to pick me up out of this one.

Let’s be honest. There are times when we forget that God is sovereign and that there is no end to His ability. To forget and underestimate the reality of one who is omniscient is human.

But I am so glad, that despite my limited ability to comprehend the might of God to transcend beyond even the darkest of human impossibility God still maintains His grace toward us.

This week I have witnessed God awe me once again. I have been in ministry for almost 20 years and been a follower of Christ that entire time, but right when I thought I had God figured out He reminded me in the words of my Grandmother that “You thought You knew me, but You still don’t know me”. That doesn’t mean that we don’t have faith, but it is a reminder that what we think we know about God is only a fraction of a percent compared to His infinite ability, identity, and wisdom.

He in all of His splendor caused my worst week to become the best week of my life.

He turned my mourning into dancing, and sorrows into joy.

This is what I have learned. Let your soul remain steadfast in the fact that God is in control. God is working this out behind the scenes.

It does not matter what was your fault, or the accusations. God has orchestrated this hell to qualify you to be a carrier of the might of Heaven, and your voice to be the magnet that all of Heaven’s power is drawn to.

What appeared to be the end of your life was really a divinely coordinated path to guide you into a new beginning.

The psalmist that wrote the scripture above had this same experience. His soul had been waiting on God, but more importantly, He understood that God’s shield was guarding His being so that what wanted to take Him out could not cause harm to Him.

God only lets the heat get hot enough for you to be conformed into the best culinary dish in town, and for you to be transformed into His image. But no matter how hot it gets; His shield ensures that you won’t get burned.