Do you remember when you were a little boy or girl what you would do when you would get scared, overwhelmed, anxious, or fearful? When life would get the best of you, you would run into your father or mother’s arms and allow his/her warmth to consume all your negative feelings. His/her arms wrapped around you made everything get better and would signify to you that everything was going to be ok. As time passed by and you got older, the ability to run to your father or mother’s arms became more and more limited and when you would, the feeling didn’t totally go away. When you grow up and become an adult, the luxury of having your father or mother to run to at the drop of a dime isn’t there. So, where do you run?

As we get older, we are faced with more and more burdens that bring about all the same feelings we experienced as a child except the intensity of those feelings are greater and we lack the ability to be able to run to our parents for the protection needed to get through them. So what do we do? How do we overcome these burdens? How can we face the turmoil of everyday life with the same feeling of protection that our parent’s warming hug provided us with all so long ago? You probably guessed where this was going. We turn to God to be our protection. However, I don’t want to just blanket your problems with the “turn to God” statement without providing any proof of why this is so.

We have all heard the story of David and Goliath. David was this young man who used a few rocks to take down the overpowering Goliath. Besides this event, there are many documented cases of so many things David was faced with during his lifetime. In the Book of Psalms, we are able to get an inside view into exactly what David struggled with and what he called on God to deliver Him from. “You are my strength, I watch for you; you, God, are my fortress,” Psalm 59:9 NIV. David pointed out that God was his strength and his fortress. That through all the trials and tribulations that he would face in his life, God was always going to be the source of his strength so that he could make it through anything life threw his way. We too need to look to God for our strength. We are merely human. This means that the physical, mental, and emotional strength that we have is limited. When we run out of our strength but are still faced with the troubles of life, what do we do? Give up? NO! David reminds us that we must seek out God. Our strength is limited, but God’s strength is unlimited.

We can think of the connection between our strength and God’s strength like a hybrid car. A hybrid car uses both an electrical charging engine and gasoline. The car first runs on the electricity that it has from the charging. However, if the car runs long enough, the electricity eventually is all used up and the car must switch to the gasoline that has been put in the tank to continue to run the rest of the journey. We can run on our own strength for only so long, but once that strength runs out, if we seek God and His strength, we can continue through our trials. Unlike the hybrid car where the gas will also run out, God’s strength will never run out.

David also states that God is his fortress. I looked up the definition of a fortress on the Internet (because it’s 2017 and I don’t own a dictionary ha-ha) and one of the definitions I found really put into perspective what David meant by God is his fortress. The definition for fortress stated, a person or thing not susceptible to outside influence or disturbance. That is so great! It is so great that I am going to state it again. A fortress is a person or thing not susceptible to outside influence or disturbance. That is what we become when we seek God, especially during our struggles. We become something that cannot be affected by outside influence or disturbance. I don’t want you to get confused by this definition and think the lie many of us were told as kids that states that God will protect us, never letting anything bad happen to us. That simply isn’t true. Bad things WILL happen. What this definition points out is that when God is our fortress, we have the ability to make it through anything without being demolished by whatever it is we are facing.

I love war movies. I was watching one the other day and in one of the scenes, the soldiers were in this fortified bunker that could not be penetrated. Yes, the people in the bunker were banged up here and there due to the bunker constantly being attacked, but they did not perish. The bunker stayed strong and withstood all that it was facing. Then the scene continued and it was discovered that there was one part of the bunker that wasn’t completely fortified and that is how the other army was able to get in.

This scene really got me reflecting about the fortress I currently have around me. Through this reflection, I was able to find certain areas of my fortress that wasn’t completely fortified because those were the areas I was trying to use my own strength instead of God’s strength to be protected. I say all of this to pose this reflecting question to you.

• Where can your fortress be strengthened by using God’s strength instead of your own?

When we strengthen our fortress by seeking God’s strength, we have the forces needed to withstand anything. However, just because we have the forces to withstand anything doesn’t always mean that we will trust God to get us through the circumstances. The lack of trust brings worry. When we worry, regardless of the fortress God has provided for us, we still will feel like we aren’t going to make it through. If we are worrisome inside of the fortress God has provided for us, we will collapse under our own pressure.

David provides us with more insight into why we can trust God and the fortress He has provided for us. “The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1 NIV. David asks whom shall he fear because the Lord is his light. This is such a great line because it reminds us of how powerful God truly is. Nothing that we face will ever be close to the strength God has. Knowing that we have God, we should have the courage to face anything.

The eclipse happened just a few days ago. Now when it happened, I knew there would be tons of churches using the imagery and symbolism of the eclipse to convey spiritual teachings (Not that there is anything wrong with that). I, however, didn’t want to do that. Then a realization came over me while watching the eclipse about God’s mighty power and it really put into perspective what David is talking about in this verse.

Where I was in Alpharetta, GA for the eclipse, we experienced 98.5% of totality or 98.5% of the sun being covered by the moon. When I heard that only 1.5% of the sun was going to be visible, I was convinced that the temperature would drop drastically and it would get pretty dark. Then, once it reached 98.5% of totality, it was still almost completely light outside and the temperature only dropped a few degrees. It was so amazing how, with only 1.5% of the sun being visible, it was still so light out and warm out. The strength and the power of the sun were really put into perspective for me at that moment.

Seeing how strong the light from the sun was, made me really think about how strong the light from God that David talks about must be since God created the sun and He is infinitely stronger and bright than it. With that strength, we don’t need to ever worry about God’s ability to deliver us from our struggles. We can give God our fullest trust that His stronghold is strong enough.

 Along with the Lord being our light, David reminds us that the Lord is our salvation. This is such a great thing to remember when we are struggling to figure out where to run to in our times of need. A friend of mine delivered a sermon a few months ago about trusting God and his bottom line was such a great take away as well as a perfect tie into David’s reminder that God is our salvation. My friend’s bottom line was, “if I am trusting God with my eternity, can’t I trust God with this?” This is such a key thing to ask ourselves when we know God’s fortress will protect us but we are still lacking the trust in God. We can use the knowledge that we have gained from Scripture about all the times God has delivered people from impossible situations to know that God’s plan always wins in the end. Here is a question to reflect on.

• What are you currently not trusting God with or to deliver you from?

During our times of need and struggle, we are told to seek God and read the Bible. However, often times when reading the Bible, it is hard to see the people in the Bible as real people so it is hard to run to Scripture for guidance. A lot of times, Scripture is presented to us as a series of stories, when in actuality they are true accounts of what has taken place on this Earth. With that being said, we need to look at the struggles and solutions that have been carried out in Scripture as things that can also be carried out in our lives. With this trust and belief, we will have a place to run to.

James, the half-brother of Jesus points this truth out by saying, “Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.” James 5:17 NIV. When we see Scripture as actual, true accounts of lives that have been lived on this Earth and what God has done for them as real, true things, we are able to see that God truly has the ability to deliver us from whatever it is that we are facing. A lot of times when we pray, we do so in a hope for God instead of a belief in Him. When we are hoping for God, we are not truly trusting and believing that He can and will provide. Amazing things happen when instead we pray as a belief in God’s abilities to deliver. When we hope for Him, God seems very distant and we feel that He “might” help out. When we believe in Him, God seems so close to us, as He truly is, and we can feel that warmth and protection that we felt when we were kids with our parents. Here is a question to reflect on.

• When do you hope for God instead of believe in Him?

We have talked about how God strength gets us through the toughest of times, as He is our fortress. We have discussed how God is our light and salvation and that if we trust Him with our eternity, we can trust Him with our daily burdens. We have mentioned how we need to believe in God instead of hoping for Him during our times of struggle. There is one account that took place thousands of years ago that proves all these points we just talked about and shows that God is who we must run to.

In the Book of Daniel, there are 3 guys, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that were going to be thrown into a fiery furnace if they did not worship the gods of the king at that time. They refused to worship any god other than the one true God. This brought a deep burden on them as they were going to be thrown into the furnace. Instead of cowering in fear, running away, or doing anything else, Scripture says, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand.’” Daniel 3:16-17 NIV. These three believed that God had the ability to deliver them from the furnace if it was His Will. They didn’t ask, “what can we do,” they asked, “what can God do”? They were at rest and peace knowing that God was their stronghold and if God didn’t want the furnace to burn them, it wouldn’t. All they wanted from this outcome was to humbly serve God’s Will. They believed in God instead of hoping for God.

We too need to display this peace when facing struggles. God has already seen the outcome of everything we will face, so let us rest in knowing that He has the ability to deliver us from anything and everything. Call on God to be your fortress, to give you strength while facing the trials of the world, and trust in Him to deliver you from all evil. He is whom we run to. Here is a question to reflect on.

• When has God failed you? (Why do you feel God has failed you?)

Behind the Writing:

This blog post came from the idea of our wonderful photographer Marissa. She pointed out with how the world being the way it is nowadays, it is so important to remember that God is our strength and fortress. He provides us with all we need to make it through whatever we face.

Talking through this idea with her, I discovered key points in my life and faith where I struggle trusting in and believing in God and His abilities to help me through my struggles. There are so many things I trust God with, but it is amazing all the things I still struggle to give over to Him. I hold on to them as if I can do a better job with them or as if I need to be doing something to survive whatever it is I am struggling with. Preparing this blog has opened my eyes to all the times I should have trusted that God would help me instead of trying to do it all myself.

One huge thing that was brought to my attention through this post was how I still struggle to believe all of my prayers. A lot of times I pray hoping things work out so I can say they were from God instead of truly believing that whatever it is I am praying about, God truly has the strength and ability to deliver me from whatever it is I am struggling with. I have been struggling with a lot of things lately and it is so refreshing to know that all I have to do is seek Him.

As a final note, if you are or were anything like me in my past, in times of trouble I turned to things that only brought trouble. This post helped remind me why nothing that I turn to besides my Heavenly Father will truly provide what I need to make it through the trials and tribulations of life.

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33 NIV

“But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.” Deuteronomy 4:29 NIV

-Philip