His Encouragement #209

Welcome to His Encouragement Thursday! I don’t know about you, but Thursdays are my struggle day of the week. By Thursday, I have already been working hard at school and at home, and I just wish it would hurry up and be Friday already. LOL! I definitely need a little extra Jesus time on Thursdays.

Every word of God is refined; He is a shield for all who take refuge in Him.
Proverbs 30:5 (CJB)

When I read this verse, I feel great comfort. It fills me with gratefulness — I have a Father in Heaven who speaks pure words to me and He will protect me from everything. I love this!

But I admit to some confusion. Proverbs 30:5 is made up of two facts that, while completely TRUE, seem like an odd combination. Two facts joined by a semicolon. One purpose of a semicolon is to indicate two closely related sentences/ideas, but in this case, how do they go together? Why would this verse be written like this?

Let’s look at the first fact: every word of God is pure. TRUTH. This is not arguable. If God says it, He means it. What does it mean to be pure? To be pure means to be clean, spotless, unsullied, refined. Again, TRUTH — God’s word is clean, spotless, unsullied, and refined.

I can’t help but think of John 1:1-2, 14 (ESV). In John 1, we are told, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” I love these verses. I love understanding and pondering the amazingness that is Jesus. Jesus is the Word of God. Jesus is God. He became man and came to this earth to dwell among us, His people.

In 1 John 3:3-5, we are told of Jesus’s purity: “And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin.” So, Jesus is the PURE, SINLESS Word of God.

How does this connect to fact #2 in Proverbs 30:5?

Fact #2 in verse 5 is that God shields those who take refuge in Him. God protects His kids. It’s what He does. Verse after verse in the Bible proves this fact. I love that God protects His kids. I love that when we choose to come to Him, when we choose God as our refuge, He protects. He shields us. He walks with us and guides us.

I love to Bible Study. It is one of my most favorite things to do. I especially love being in God’s Word when I am struggling personally, when my world feels chaotic and out of control, or when I feel powerless. 100% of the time, whenever I am feeling any of these negative things and I turn to God’s Word, He comforts me. He protects me from the insanity. He is my refuge and He shields me from this crazy world.

Proverbs 30:5 is not two seemingly-disconnected facts of God being put together to force one idea, but rather it is ONE idea. When we choose God and His Word, when we seek God out in His word as our refuge in good, bad, and meh times, HIS WORD, Jesus, becomes our shield and he protects us from “all the flaming darts of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16).

If you, dear reader, are struggling today with ANYTHING choose this day God and take refuge in God’s Word and He will shield you from anything and everything. He will give you His peace and comfort this very minute! AMEN!