Psalm 27:5 (ESV): 5  For he will hide me in his shelter

in the day of trouble;

Abba,

We live in a world of trouble.  This sounds obvious, but how often do I/we tend to forget it?  Current days with a coronavirus pandemic sweeping around the globe remind us of this.  Most likely, life will settle back to normal after a period of time, the trouble will fade, and we will go back to living with a forgetfulness of the trouble this life brings.  Truth is, so long as sin persists…trouble will to.

Our problem, we live with unrealistic expectations, living and operating out of our own strength, in our own wisdom, and for our own purposes.  We live as if trouble will not strike us.  That is something others go through, but not us.  We live forgetful of the trouble this world offers.  We live with a careless ease thinking that when it comes, we will be able to handle it on our own.  When we do, when struggle comes, we are blindsided and flattened.  We are devastated by our weakness and ability to confront the trouble head on.  When our strength fails, we are left gaping, astonished at our failure.  Perhaps that is very reason that we are granted the grace of trouble. It keeps us mindful of our weakness and inability and keeps us reliant upon you.

You, Abba, will hide us in your shelter in our day of trouble.

Trouble will come.

Trouble is here.

Today it is a virus frightening the whole world into panic and fear.

Tomorrow it may be economic collapse.

After that, perhaps it will come in the form of disintegrating marriages, natural disasters, sickness, death, pain, betrayal, etc.

Point is….trouble comes.  Trouble is here.

What is our hope and our strength?

YOU. 

You, Abba, are our shelter, our protection, our guard in the midst of such trouble.  It doesn’t always mean we are protected from pain.  It does mean that because of our faith in you, our repentance from our sin, and our relationship to you, no eternal harm can come upon us.  It does mean that the adversary, Satan, cannot touch us in any eternally harmful manner.  It does mean that you will grant peace, joy, and hope in the midst of trouble that we face.

Whatever our trouble may be…today, coronavirus…tomorrow, something else…we can have peace.  We can enjoy security and strength because the foundation of those things does not come from me, from us…but from you.

You are our shelter. 

You are our refuge.

You are our joy, our hope, our peace.

So bring it on.  No trouble will defeat us, for no trouble can defeat you.

We love you, Abba.

Thank you for being our shelter.