1 00:00:02,680 --> 00:00:13,200 Speaker 1: Life Audio. Welcome to the Crosswalk devotional. We're glad to 2 00:00:13,240 --> 00:00:16,840 Speaker 1: have you listening with us. Today's topic is about finding 3 00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:21,120 Speaker 1: refuge in God when we're frightened and overwhelmed. We'll return 4 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:36,120 Speaker 1: with the devotional after a brief message from our sponsors. 5 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:41,479 Speaker 1: Making God Our Safe Place written and read by Jennifer Slattery. 6 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:44,960 Speaker 1: Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will 7 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:48,760 Speaker 1: rest in the shadow of the Almighty Psalm ninety one, 8 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:53,320 Speaker 1: Verse one, How can we make God our refuge, shield 9 00:00:53,479 --> 00:00:57,840 Speaker 1: shelter and safe place? Most of us probably recognize He's 10 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:00,720 Speaker 1: with us always. A Psalm one thirty nine claims there 11 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:03,920 Speaker 1: is no way we can flee his presence, no place 12 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:06,920 Speaker 1: we can go where He isn't already there. And that's 13 00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:10,399 Speaker 1: good news because it is in his presence that we 14 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:15,360 Speaker 1: receive strength, power, protection, and peace. While he's always with us. 15 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:18,160 Speaker 1: It can take practice to become aware of and learn 16 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:22,200 Speaker 1: to rest and find shelter in his presence. I'm learning 17 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 1: to pause when I feel anxious or overwhelmed, to close 18 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:29,280 Speaker 1: my eyes prayerfully connect with God and receive comfort from 19 00:01:29,319 --> 00:01:33,480 Speaker 1: His embrace. The more I do this, the easier it becomes. 20 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:38,120 Speaker 1: My hope is that I'll become so skilled at emotionally 21 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:41,080 Speaker 1: regulating myself with the Lord that I won't do or 22 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:45,199 Speaker 1: say things I regret when under stress or in fearful circumstances. 23 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:50,360 Speaker 1: We all tend to behave uncharacteristically when we feel threatened, sad, anxious, 24 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:55,120 Speaker 1: or depressed. But we have instant and constant access to 25 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:59,120 Speaker 1: all powerful God, who surrounds us with his loving embrace. 26 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:03,240 Speaker 1: That's the image I received when I consider today's verse. 27 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:07,440 Speaker 1: I picture my heavenly Father's strong arms around me, acting 28 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:11,200 Speaker 1: like a protective barrier. The scripture begins with an all 29 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:16,720 Speaker 1: inclusive invitation whoever dwells, the Psalmist says, reminding us that 30 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:20,600 Speaker 1: God longs for all of us, those with respectable church 31 00:02:20,639 --> 00:02:24,239 Speaker 1: attending backgrounds and those who spent their lives running from 32 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:29,520 Speaker 1: God and into sin, to dwell linger and remain in 33 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:33,360 Speaker 1: his shelter. The ancient Hebrews, reading Psalm ninety one, likely 34 00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:35,919 Speaker 1: would have immediately thought of how God led them through 35 00:02:35,919 --> 00:02:39,440 Speaker 1: the wilderness with the cloud by day that hovered protectively 36 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:44,200 Speaker 1: above them, making His presence tangible visible, guiding them every 37 00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:47,560 Speaker 1: step of their journey and shielding them from the sun's 38 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:52,120 Speaker 1: intense rays, the Lord doesn't change. He watches over, guides 39 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:54,840 Speaker 1: and protects us as faithfully as he did the often 40 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:58,760 Speaker 1: rebellious Jews so long ago. I'm comforted when I consider 41 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:02,200 Speaker 1: the unfaithful attitude, who and behaviors of people to whom 42 00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 1: God remain faithful, because it reminds me of his free 43 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:09,839 Speaker 1: and inexhaustible gift of grace. As Psalm one hundred and three, 44 00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:13,200 Speaker 1: Verse ten states, he doesn't treat us as our sins deserve, 45 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:17,360 Speaker 1: and I'm so grateful for that. He doesn't hold grudges, 46 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:21,600 Speaker 1: make us earn his favor or protection, or withhold his goodness. 47 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:26,399 Speaker 1: We can trust in all he does, doesn't do, and allows. 48 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:30,000 Speaker 1: He always has our best in mind. Well. He doesn't 49 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:33,440 Speaker 1: condone or bless sin by any means. He does invite 50 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:36,400 Speaker 1: us all to come to him, build an ever deepening 51 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:40,080 Speaker 1: relationship with him, and allow him to comfort, heal, and 52 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:43,840 Speaker 1: strengthen us with his love. He is our shelter, as 53 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:46,840 Speaker 1: Psalm twenty seven, verse five states, he will hide me 54 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:49,880 Speaker 1: in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me 55 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:53,560 Speaker 1: high upon a rock. Today's verse refers to God as 56 00:03:53,720 --> 00:03:57,440 Speaker 1: the most high Elohim in the original Hebrew. This name 57 00:03:57,480 --> 00:04:00,600 Speaker 1: for God emphasizes his power, strength, and authority. He is 58 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:05,680 Speaker 1: above everyone and everything, every earthly system, over every national leader, 59 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:09,600 Speaker 1: and greater than all the forces of hell combined. His 60 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:15,400 Speaker 1: power and wisdom are limitless, his strength inconquerable, and his 61 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:20,720 Speaker 1: plans immutable. What he says happens, and what he ordains 62 00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:24,799 Speaker 1: always comes to pass. Those who make God their dwelling place. 63 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:27,640 Speaker 1: By learning to recognize his voice, turning to him in 64 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:31,279 Speaker 1: times of trouble and overwhelm, and regularly resting in his 65 00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:37,320 Speaker 1: presence will find rest. Consider those things that most exhaust you. 66 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:41,080 Speaker 1: It's usually not the event or cask itself that leads 67 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:44,479 Speaker 1: to our fatigue, but rather all the expectations, obligations, and 68 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:48,960 Speaker 1: emotional weight we attach to it, our fears of failure 69 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:52,640 Speaker 1: and what might happen should we fail. That tends to 70 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:57,520 Speaker 1: feel heaviest. The more we stress and fret, the bigger 71 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:00,000 Speaker 1: that challenge in front of us seems to grow blood 72 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:03,720 Speaker 1: finding us to God's power and promises. But when we 73 00:05:03,839 --> 00:05:07,200 Speaker 1: pause to rest in his presence, he reminds us of 74 00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:10,440 Speaker 1: comforting truth, such as that He crafted his plans for 75 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:13,359 Speaker 1: us long before we took our first breath, or that 76 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:16,400 Speaker 1: he's recorded every day of our lives in his book 77 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:19,040 Speaker 1: before a single one came to pass. He might remind 78 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:22,320 Speaker 1: us of his promise to work all things, including our mistakes, 79 00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:25,680 Speaker 1: for our good and his glory. Or maybe he'll simply 80 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:31,640 Speaker 1: hold us in his soul strengthening embrace. Lastly, today's verse 81 00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:36,720 Speaker 1: states that we find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 82 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:39,440 Speaker 1: This reminds me of a game my daughter and I 83 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:41,960 Speaker 1: used to play when she was young. On sunny days, 84 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:45,560 Speaker 1: we'd go outside and try to stomp on one another's shadows. 85 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:52,400 Speaker 1: This required proximity closeness, similarly to rest in God's shadow 86 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:56,479 Speaker 1: necessitates remaining close to him through prayer, Bible reading, attending church, 87 00:05:56,839 --> 00:06:01,440 Speaker 1: connecting with other believers, and quietly sitting in his presence 88 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:07,960 Speaker 1: intersecting life and faith. Jesus phrased it this way, remain 89 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:12,840 Speaker 1: in me as I also remain in you. No branch 90 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:16,039 Speaker 1: can bear fruit by itself. It must remain in the vine. 91 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:20,440 Speaker 1: Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 92 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:25,120 Speaker 1: I am the vine. You are the branches. If you 93 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:28,800 Speaker 1: remain in me and I in you, you will bear 94 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:34,360 Speaker 1: much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing. John fifteen, 95 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:38,400 Speaker 1: verses four through five. Here's the good news. According to 96 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:42,039 Speaker 1: James four verse eight, the moment we turn to God, 97 00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:46,760 Speaker 1: he is already moving with opened arms toward us, drawing 98 00:06:46,839 --> 00:06:53,279 Speaker 1: us deeper into his loving, into his loving, protective, sheltering embrace. 99 00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:00,880 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to today's devotional. If you liked what 100 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:02,919 Speaker 1: you heard today, we want to make sure you know 101 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:06,960 Speaker 1: about our sister podcast, your Daily Prayer. When you follow 102 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:10,360 Speaker 1: your daily prayer in your favorite podcast app, you'll get 103 00:07:10,360 --> 00:07:13,480 Speaker 1: a brand new prayer and devotional each day, so your 104 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:17,040 Speaker 1: days begin in conversation with God. If you are looking 105 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:19,720 Speaker 1: to grow in prayer or start your day with your 106 00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:23,720 Speaker 1: heart focused on the right things, search for your daily 107 00:07:23,760 --> 00:07:27,000 Speaker 1: prayer in your favorite podcast app and be sure to 108 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:29,880 Speaker 1: follow the show so you get a new prayer delivered 109 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:31,800 Speaker 1: straight to you each morning.