See God for Who He Is

Psalm 91:1(NIV)

“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.”

When life starts to unravel and fall apart, or tragedy knocks at the door, people that have never done so before will finally turn to God and seek His help. Fear and discomfort have a way of making us gravitate to whatever feels safe and secure. As women, we sometimes look to a man to make us feel this way, but God is our true and everlasting shelter of protection. He tells us in Psalm 91:1 that we can dwell in His shelter. It doesn’t matter who we are or what we’ve done in the past, Heavenly Father welcomes us through Jesus Christ to hang-out with Him. He wants us to enjoy His covering and bask in His care. There, in His shelter, we will find rest for our souls, and we can stay in the shadow of all that God is continually. 

A person can’t build confidence in something they don’t know or haven’t been taught, so if you don’t know or you’ve never heard that we can come boldly to God for help, then you might allow fear to dominate your life. I had a relationship with God in my youth, but I didn’t know Him very well. As a matter of fact, I never believed that He wanted to get to know me. So, I went on about my life, not really consulting God about my decisions and not really asking Him for help unless there was a huge problem I couldn’t solve on my own.

It was in my late twenties and early thirties that I began to make mistakes that had big-time consequences. I felt as if I was the devil’s punching bag because I’d take one step forward and two steps backward. I couldn’t understand what was happening, and I wanted so desperately for my life to change. One of the reasons that I couldn’t see a way forward is because of the emotional entanglements with men who said they loved me but tried to hurt me. They were used by the devil, and because of this, they weren’t satisfied to see me being free, happy, and secure. Through them, the enemy tried to steal my liberty, and keep me enslaved to darkness and fear.

God tells us in Galatians 5:1(MSG), “Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.” This is one of the most important building blocks to life in Christ that you and I must know; Christ has set us free! Our liberty comes from him, and we must know that it is God’s desire that we walk in the liberty of Christ every moment of each day. I didn’t realize that the devil was trying to destroy me, and that he was trying to rob the plan God had for my life. I had experienced the trauma of domestic violence as a child, and I didn’t recognize how fear was still impacting me as an adult. God lovingly taught me about the liberty Christ offers. We should all want to know this kind of freedom, and we should want to know how to live it boldly through Christ. All we need to do is ask the Lord to teach us. 

We must also know the most important commandment that Jesus Christ gives. Then, we should begin to rededicate ourselves to it. In Mark 12:30(NIV), Jesus Christ commands “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” This means that we should love God with all that we are, holding nothing back. We don’t need to try to hide our fears or our flaws. He knows us inside out, and we can come to Him flaws and all. Some of us make the mistake of putting our significant relationships before God. We make the man the center of our lives. This is a violation of the commandment of Christ. Do you know what happens when we put anything before God? We become blind to the love and help God wants to give us. This is where many women are today.

Philippians 4:6(NLT) gives us a good practical guide to keeping Jesus Christ in the driver’s seat of our lives. It says, “Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” Worrying is what we do when we don’t know who God is, and we don’t trust in His willingness and ability to rescue us from any and all danger. We have to see our Heavenly Father for who He is. He’s our Protector and Provider. He is our refuge, and He must have this place in our hearts and minds, because it’s who He is.

We must continue to study and learn more about God through His Word, because this is the only way that our faith in Him will increase. He wants us to seek Him first, above all other things, because only He can guarantee our safety. His love never fails, and He watches over us every day of our lives. Bring pleasure to Heavenly Father by seeing Him for the loving and powerful God that He is. Because of His great love, you and I are free through Jesus Christ, and if we let Him, Heavenly Father will make sure we continually abide in the protection of His shelter.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

(MSG) Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

“See God for Who He Is”, written by Kim for https://rescuefromdomesticviolence.blogspot.com© 2020. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.