To Encourage You

Isaiah 49:16 “. . . your walls are continually before me.”

Psalm 62:2 “He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.”

In ancient cities, people relied on great walls for protection.  They trusted in them. They served as a fortress. People believed they were safe as long as they stayed within them, for it was the walls that kept all of their enemies at bay. However, like every other physical thing, walls have their weaknesses. They could be scaled over or tunneled under.  Their gates could be destroyed by battering rams.  And if nothing else worked, enemies could lay siege, and the walls that the people of a city had relied on became nothing more than a trap. Because they could bring nothing in, in time they would die from lack of food and water, or surrender to their foes. 

Surely there are parallels in our day and age. While we might not trust in physical walls for our protection, there are many other physical things that we trust in.  Our money is one example.  As long as we can pay our bills, as long as we have enough income, we have no fear of not having enough food to eat, clothes to wear, a house to shelter us from the elements, and the ability to do the things we enjoy.  Then there is our health.  We trust it.  As long as our health is good and we feel good, we are good. Isn’t that how we think?  We rely on our minds, our intellect.  We trust our own judgment. We think if we can understand things and make wise choices, then things, for the most part, will be well.  And what about other people?  We trust in our relationships as a protection against loneliness. We rely on others for companionship, fellowship, help, and love.   However, in all these things, just like the walled cities of the ancients, there are weaknesses.  One unforeseen tragedy and our money, our health, our minds, and our relationships can be found wanting.  In a moment of time the physical things we tend to trust in can be stripped away. 

So, what should our attitude be in light of this? What’s the remedy against the anxieties that can come from the fear of such loss?  Well, as with everything else of greatest importance in life, the Bible has the answer.  It’s all summed up in the verse above from Psalm 62.  It is the admonition to trust only in God for it is He and He alone Who is our salvation and our fortress.  While everything else in our lives can, and likely will, fail, it is God alone Who is omnipotent. Our God is eternal, and when we trust in this One Who cannot fail rather than on anything and everything else that surely can fail, we have true freedom from the fear and anxiety that can plague us as we trust on other things that can become no more than idols to us. 

But do we do this, really?  How many of us are like the father of the demon-possessed child in Mark 9? In his desperation he cried out to Jesus, “If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” To this Jesus replies, “’If you can?’ All things are possible for one who believes.”  To this the man replies, “I believe; help my unbelief!” And it is just that help that Jesus gives us whenever He strips away, in one way or another, those things other than Him that we trust in. 

So, are you passing through some overwhelming trial right now where something or someone that you’ve relied on has either been taken away or threatens to be taken from you?  If so, it may be the Lord’s way of helping bring you to the place, step by step, of being able to say with the psalmist “God only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken,” for if the omnipotent, infinite, eternal God truly becomes our only rock and salvation, nothing will ever be able to shake us again.  It is in such trust that our joy is most full, and it is this joy, God’s own joy, that God wants for us. Listen as we are told this in Psalm 5:11: “But let all who take refuge in You rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you.”  It’s that joy that would lead Paul and Silas to sing in prison (Acts 16:25).  It’s that joy that enabled Jesus to endure the cross (Hebrews 12:1). And it’s that joy that God has for each and every one of us if we would trust Him, i.e., trust in Him alone.