From John Pipers book: "[I] want to esteem Gods protection superior to all others. [I] I want to set [my] heart on God for hope and joy. .... If [I] plead God's value as the source of [my] hope instead of pleading [my] value as a reason for God's blessing, then his unwavering commitment to his own glory engages all his heart for [my] protection and joy. [page 67]"
These are hard times. These are emotional times. Raising a family is hard. Raising a family made up of many different people, with many different beginnings is hard. Raising a family to walk in the shadow of our Almighty God is hard.
Hard for me. But not for God.
So I am determined to rest under the shadow of His wing more fully than ever before. I want to be abiding so deeply under His wing that I wait when He waits, I go where He goes, and I move when He moves. I'm not there yet. It's going to take some mighty prayer. It's going to take some mighty faith. It's going to take me places that I may never have thought about. But it will NOT leave me unchanged.
Psalm 91
"1 Whoever 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 say, “The LORD is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm will overtake 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 on 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 on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”
