Shelter

This past Sunday our Foursquare Interim President Glen Burris spoke a short message on hope. There were several great nuggets of truth I walked away chewing on, but today I am holding onto one in particular. He said, "When your life is absent of peace, you should know that you are in a spiritual battle."

I deal with anxiety quite a bit in my life, though I wish I didn't. It is usually sporadic in nature and quite unfocused. Why am I worried at any given time? More often than not I couldn't tell you the source issue... I'm just wigging out. But thinking about what Glen said this morning woke me up to the fact that often I find myself settling with existence as usual in the midst of these waves of anxiety. The real truth of the matter is that I need to wake up and realize that those anxious thoughts are not accurate reflections of the God I serve, or His Spirit dwelling within me. Thus it must be some sort of spiritual battle (either against myself or the enemy). And what does one do in a battle? Well, I don't think "sitting on one's butt oblivious to the nature of events occurring in the immediate vicinity" would be in the list of things to do on a battlefield. Yet nine times out of ten this is what I do when I come under attack by anxiety. I just sit there and try to exist my way through it until this wave disappears and another one shows up.

I think my better option would be to fight back. And when it comes to the God I serve, my best offense is a good defense--and God is the greatest defense I could ask for. Nothing can reach me when I dwell in his sheltering presence.

Psalm 91 is my favorite Psalm to read in times like this:

"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.'
For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with his pinions and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and a buckler.
You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.
You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.
Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place--the Most High who is my refuge--
no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.
For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.
'Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
I will protect him because he knows my name.
When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation."

Now, as I realize I am in an active battlefield I need to shake off the shell-shock, regroup, and run for cover. Only from God's sheltering presence can I advance with any advantage against my enemies.