Have you ever had times when whatever was going on around you made you afraid or uncertain? I’m sure many of us have had those times. They are unsettling, to say the least. Today’s Bible Journaling verse gives us comfort and strength in those times. “The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.” (Proverbs 18:10 KJV) Isn’t it comforting to know that God is our place of refuge?
As I read this Scripture, I began to wonder how a NAME could become a safe place. J. Vernon McGee, in his commentary on Proverbs, says, “The name of Jehovah is also the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is called Jesus because He saves His people from their sins. And He is called Christ because He is the Anointed One. He is the Lord of our life and our salvation. The Lord is a strong tower. You can run into it and be completely safe. This is a verse that many have used in speaking to children, and I have used it myself and found it very effective. It speaks of security and reminds us that no one can pluck us out of His hands. What a beautiful picture this is!” From what I see, just the name of Jesus calms our hearts and eases our fears because we KNOW without a shadow of a doubt, that He is our Savior, our Protector, our Healer, He is the One who gives us breath to breathe, and we can rest in knowing He will never turn His back on us!
Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength [mighty and impenetrable], A very present and well-proved help in trouble.” (AMP) I like how the Amplified Bible focuses on how strong God as our refuge is and that it says He is “well-proved”. He has never failed us, and He never will. He not only is our God, but He also protects us much like a father protects his children. When we face dangers that we don’t know how to get ourselves out of, He comes alongside us and guides and guards us against whatever is about to harm us. When the enemy of our souls attacks us, Jesus is right there to defend us.
The moment we call upon Jesus, we know He is there to deliver us from what would harm us. I have heard many instances of people who were about to get into a bad car accident, and they called out the name of Jesus, only to have the other vehicle move in an unexpected way to avoid an accident. At that time, it seemed like an invisible hand came down and pushed it out of the way. There was no reason for the vehicle to behave in the manner it did. The only explanation was Jesus!
God is our safe tower not just in physical instances, but also in Spiritual. The Devil wants nothing better than to destroy us. (John 10:10) He will try every trick in his book to get us to fail, to end our lives (physically and spiritually), and to see that we become ineffective Christians. He wants us to live defeated lives, or better yet, he wants to take us out of this world so that we don’t have the means to affect others with the Gospel. But God! He is the answer to combatting the enemy’s attacks. When we call on Him, not only are His warring angels dispatched to help us do Spiritual warfare, but He also helps us to defeat Satan via the power of God, the Holy Spirit, to prompt us with Scripture to fight back against the enemy’s attacks.
God is our strong tower! We find refuge in Him by reading His Word, being encouraged by it, by praising God, by having regular communication in prayer with Him, and from Believers He puts in our pathway to encourage us. Run to His Safe Place! Rest in His loving arms, and know He has your back! He is our strong tower.
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