He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
Psalm 91:1
Such an inviting promise lies within the words of Psalm 91 verse one. As we dwell in God’s shelter, He indeed gives us rest.
We might find ourselves frazzled from the tasks of everyday life. Tired and weary of life’s demands. Exhaustion hits as we exist and operate in this tension filled world.
Perhaps you are in the middle of parenting preschoolers, middle-aged kids, or high-schoolers. Parenting, for most of us, is a demanding and rewarding task.
Maybe you are in the grand parenting phase of life. You know, those golden years.
The daily grind of work, family, and the pressures of life can soon wear a person down if we do not rest in the shelter of our God.
We all need to find refreshment in order to recharge physically, emotionally, and especially spiritually.
Most of us, regardless of our age, like to pack our schedules with activities to keep us challenged in life. We don’t enjoy slowing down for too long because then we might get bored. So we jam pack each day with duties, lists, schedules, and meetings. But do we take time to start the day in the shelter of God, the shadow of the Almighty?
If we don’t take the proper time to meet with Jesus, the rest of our day gets thrown off. We need to draw our strength and our direction for the day from our LORD.
People make all kinds of excuses for why they can’t take time to have a personal devotional life. They are busy, tired, not a morning person, have too many duties first thing in the morning. And so on and so forth. To crack open a Bible or spend some time in prayer would be the final tip of the iceberg in adding more to an already jam-packed schedule.
But what about putting God first? Even if it means sacrificing to us? Even if it means crawling out of bed 30 minutes sooner? The peace and joy we find in meeting with Jesus more than makes up for having to get out of bed sooner. It will refresh us, recharge us, and God will orchestrate our schedules for us too. He gives us the strength we need to do the tasks He calls us to do. And when we do our tasks in His strength and not striving in our own strength, this also makes a vital difference.
So God is calling us to take rest under His shadow. He invites us to dwell in His shelter. Does that not sound like a glorious invitation to you? I can’t think of a better place to be, but under God’s loving shadow, and under sheltered from the winds and gales of life with His wings over us. His presence refills us and refreshes us.
Sometimes life gets overwhelming. We need to slow down our schedules and get alone with the God of the universe and read the Bible, and converse with Him in prayer. Perhaps we need to take action to get some things off of the to do list and delegate. Or we may need to drop a few activities if we are getting too stressed out.
Regardless, as God leads, we follow.
And if Jesus took time to get alone with God, and He called His disciples to do so as well, how much more don’t we need to do the same?
Come, rest a while under the shadow of the Almighty, in His shelter.
It’s the best way to begin any day.