His Encouragement #162

You will not fear the terror of the night,

    nor the arrow that flies by day,

nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,

    nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

Psalm 91:5-6 (ESV)

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If you have been reading my posts lately, you have gathered that I am going through Psalm 91 verse by verse. Psalm 91 brings me peace — most days, reading Psalm 91 brings me immediate peace. That is my goal with my most recent Thursday Encouragement posts. I want my dear readers to be flooded by God’s peace. I don’t know if you have noticed lately, but the world has lost its mind. People have become mobs of very angry, very violent beings. The world today, to me, is totally unrecognizable. If I had to describe the world today I could not use the word peace to describe it. So, Psalm 91 — I try to read it often, think on it daily, and even use lines from it in my daily prayers. I encourage you to do the same!

In order to properly make sense of this week’s verses, we need to remember that verses 1-4 are all about God sheltering and protecting those who choose Him. Those of us kids who make God our Refuge and place of Shelter are promised His protection. Verses 5-6 begin the discussion of what God will protect us from.

IF we choose God to be our number One, our Shelter from EVERY storm life throws our way, then we do not have to fear the things that go bump in the night, weapons wielded by our enemies, diseases that run rampant, or devastation that come smack-dab in the middle of the day. Yes, we may see these things and they may come close, BUT if we are sheltering in God’s presence we need not fear any of this scary stuff.

Today, I am coming to you as a woman who admits that I have massive cowardly tendencies. I hate confrontation and I don’t really know how to stand up against evil. I love to hide. That’s my go-to. I love Psalm 91 because God is telling me it’s perfectly OK to hide … in Him. He knows that I’m a scaredy-cat. He knows that evil, weapons, sicknesses, and devastating acts like natural storms or mob brutality or rape and murder hurt my spirit. They paralyze me. So what does God do? He promises to protect me from all this nastiness as long as I seek refuge with Him.

You know what?!

His promises in Psalm 91 are TRUE! Every day since all the insane riots, COVID pestilences, government power grabs, theft of personal freedoms, and forced mandates have begun I have been reading and praying Psalm 91. I have drawn closer and closer to God, and I remind Him daily that His Psalm 91 promise has to be real for me. And wouldn’t you know it, God has delivered me from the scary stuff every single day.

God is NOT a liar. If He says it, He means it. If you are struggling today — RUN TO JESUS. Once you are with Him, He will activate His Psalm 91 promises and cover you from all the scary stuff too!

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NOW, IT’S YOUR TURN!

WHAT BIBLICAL VERSE IS ENCOURAGING YOU TODAY?