Friday, August 12, 2011

Resting...




Psalm 91
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” 3 Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. 5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, 6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. 7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. 8 You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.

9 If you make the Most High your dwelling— even the LORD, who is my refuge— 10 then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. 11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; 12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. 13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14 “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. 15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. 16 With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

What an amazing photo! I was so pleased to get this forwarded to me in an email this past week, as it is such a perfect picture of one of my favorite passages of the Bible, and the passage I decided to name my blog after.

I am a "snuggler". I haven't always been, my parents tell me that when I was little I was fiercely independent, always wanting to be down, on my own. I'm not sure when things changed, but now I love to be in contact with the people I care about most. My favorite thing is to snuggle under my husband's arm with my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. I also enjoy to snuggle with my dad this way. There is just something so comforting in hearing their heart beat, and I feel so sheltered and protected with their arms around me. I am sure these baby birds feel the same way, they are protected under their mom or Dad's wings, and warm and safe hearing their heart beat.

God also longs to keep us safe and close the same way! How amazing is that? It blows me away sometimes that God knows me better than anyone, inside and out, yet still wants to hold me that close, and keep me protected. In fact, even though I in my sinful ways deserve all sorts of punishment and bad things, Psalms 91:8 promises that "[I] will only observe with [my] eyes and see the punishment of the wicked" as long as I am dwelling in the shadow of the Most High. As long as I am choosing to be close to God, He will protect me, walk with me, and keep me safe.

This doesn't mean things are going to go my way and be happy and rosy all the time. If they were, I don't think that there would be verses talking about protection. And sometimes it's going to be REALLY hard!

I've been really miserable lately, I'm in the hospital right now, and they can't figure out what's wrong. I have been suffering from some of the worst nausea I've ever experienced, and it's been going on for almost a week. Sometimes it's very easy for me to be angry and cry out "Why me? Haven't I already been through enough? Haven't I logged enough hours in this hospital bed?" But I know that I need to remember that God is holding me close. He is protecting me, and if I listen carefully, I can hear His heartbeat. And He will never let me go. And if I take a moment to remember this passage, I realize how blessed I really am, even as sick as I am right now, because I have God at my side.