He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.”     Psalm 91:1-2 NKJV

Sunday in children’s church, one of the children said he was sad at how people seem to be acting these days. He spoke of kids who were unruly and disruptive at school. He said these kids caused trouble in the classroom and disrespected their teachers.

I thought to myself as he told us of these things how sad it is when even the children notice.  I explained that this was in the Bible.Together we read 2 Timothy 3:1-6 which explained how in the last days people will be disrespectful and unruly. It speaks of how people will love money more than God and how they will be full of pride and boastful and lists a whole other host of undesirable behavior. It ends by telling us to avoid these people. I realize, however, it’s hard to avoid them when you work with them or go to school with them every day.

We live in a world where my friend often just shakes her head and says Isaiah 5:20. Isaiah 5:20 speaks of how people get it backwards, calling evil good and good evil. We can certainly see this all around us today.

Even our governmental agencies seem to be in turmoil as people give up working together in exchange for fighting for control.

Wouldn’t it be great if we lived in a world where everyone got along? Wouldn’t it be great if there was no pride, no struggle and no strife? Well, we know this awaits us in heaven, but you can have peace and joy while you wait to get there.

Psalm 91, as I’ve said many times before, is my favorite Psalm. No matter what I’m going through, I can read this Psalm, and be reminded that God protects me.

I only gave the first two verses in our Scripture passage because if you fail to do these things, you are stepping outside of God’s protective umbrella and the rest doesn’t apply. What I mean by this is having God’s protection is a choice. Just as we choose to buy alarm systems, cameras, weapons or big attack dogs to protect us, we must choose to live under God’s protection.

He doesn’t kidnap us and bring us into His shelter, we must willingly go there. We must choose to dwell in the secret place or protection of the Most High. Just as we may choose to reside in a certain area due to its low crime rate, we must choose to live under God’s protection.

Once we make that choice we dwell in the shadow of the Almighty. This means you are living in God’s shadow. This means God stands in the way of those who mean to do you harm.

The second verse of this Psalm acknowledges our trust in Him. When we come to see God as our place of refuge and our fortress, we can be at peace. We can know that we live under His protection.

What is going on in the world today is Biblical. We know it will only get worse. Have you taken the steps to protect yourself? By this I mean have you stepped into God’s shelter. Do you well in His shadow?

We know as Christians we will suffer at times. We know however that after we have suffered a little while God Himself will restore, establish, strengthen and support us (1 Peter 5:10).

It’s important to understand these two things. First if you are not living under God’s protection here on earth, you will not have the peace and joy it affords. Secondly, if you are not dwelling in His shadow while you are here, you are not in position to go to heaven when you leave this earth.

Don’t walk, run into His loving, protective arms today. Reside in His shelter, He’s got you!

Have a great day!