"God is your refuge and your stronghold" by Diane Webb

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“A Castle or a Cabin--God is there” (God is your refuge and your stronghold)  by Diane Webb

Psalms 9:  9 “The Lord will also be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.”

An earlier translation of the King James Version of the Bible uses the word stronghold instead of refuge.  A stronghold is a refuge but all refuges are not strongholds.  Bring to mind a castle which is a stronghold.   On the other hand think of a quiet cabin in the woods which can be a refuge but certainly not a stronghold.  In either case, one must “go to” for safety.   You would have to go to a castle to benefit from its safety and you would need to go to a cabin to experience its safety.  God is both a stronghold and a refuge and is not limited to time or space like a cabin or castle would be.  Blessedly, we can experience his safety without necessarily going to him ourselves.  He does protect people at times in spite of themselves—when they are outside his will for the moment.  Haven’t you experienced the hand of God keeping you from harm when you were not necessarily living in accordance to his will?  This, most likely, was the result of someone else praying on your behalf.  Many Christian mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, sisters, and brothers have watched over wayward loved ones through prays of protection.  Sometimes we are oppressed in times of trouble and do not even know it in our arrogance or ignorance.  We mistakenly believe we are safe in our choices outside the will of God.  The false believe is reinforced because of apparent safety.  Rest assured, someone, somewhere petitioned God on our behalf during these times.  This brings us to you--today.  Have you forgotten the power of intercessory prayer?  There is no greater weapon available to Christians.  Miracles abound in response to prayer—daily, hourly.  Surely you can remember a time you prayed in desperation to have that prayer answered almost instantly.  You don’t have to wait until desperation.  You can pray every day, all day and remain in fellowship with God inside the stronghold of his protection.  While there, you can pray for God’s protection of others who are not within the stronghold at the time—you can extend the walls of the stronghold to include them.  This, some would say, is both your power and your duty as a Christian.  You are never helpless in any situation at any time.  You have the power of God’s entire army on standby—just waiting for you to initiate the battle call.  You do have to ask for assistance.  The laws of heaven and earth strictly enforce God’s decision to give humans free will.  Therefore, a human has to exercise free will before God intervenes.  There were once two young girls in the 1970’s who foolishly skipped school one day and somehow ended up in the middle of nowhere—intoxicated and walking on the side of the road.  At that point both were in danger of becoming a headline in the newspaper without even realizing it.  As they were walking on the back-country road, one of them decided it would be a good idea to hitchhike.  A pick-up truck comes rolling down the road with a lone man driving—no one else for miles in either direction.  The girls stuck out their thumbs and the truck stopped.  The silly thirteen year olds jumped in without a second thought.  Fortunately, at least one of these girls had a praying mother who, although at work thinking her daughter was safe at school, routinely included prayers for her children as part of her day.  So, it was a kind, elderly gentleman who stopped and took these girls back into town to a place of safety (a refuge); but because of the prayers of a loving mother, they had been within the walls of a stronghold the entire day.

Dear heavenly father, as I go throughout my day today, please bring to my mind those for which you would have me pray.  Keep me mindful of the power of prayer and help me to always pray within your will.  I ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.