Refuge

Simba, one of the barnyard cats, has found a place of refuge in the trough above the water wheel. There he is safe from coyotes, dogs, and other cats. He is shaded by a tree and has a beautiful view of the flower garden. He can sleep without worry or fear and is within earshot of the door so knows when I come out with some tasty morsel. It's a perfect spot of refuge.

The Bible says that "God is our refuge". Nothing touches us that He doesn't already know about. If trouble comes, He is our "very present help". Just like Simba retreats to the trough, we can retreat to the arms of our Savior. He doesn't promise that trouble will not come. He promises to be there and to help us through the trouble and He is faithful to His promises.

Psalm 46:1

God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble.

Dust of His Feet

Nahum 1:3

The Lord is slow to anger and great in power,

and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty.

His way is in whirlwind and storm,

and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

I enjoy photography. Recently my sister-in-law commented "you like clouds". I hadn't really thought about it, but I actually do take a lot of cloud photos. When I read the above verse this week, it thrilled my heart to think of the clouds as the dust of God's feet and now I like clouds even more. I can just imagine God walking and stirring up the clouds in His wake. It makes me smile.

We often associate clouds with a rainy day, which some people dislike. Or we may say "I have a cloud hanging over my head" when life isn't going well. We tend to view whirlwinds, storms and clouds as negative things. However, if we look at this verse, it tells us that God's way is IN these things. Hmm - that's food for thought. If His way is in storms and clouds, then we should be looking for Him and trusting Him through the whirlwind, storm and clouds. Oswald Chambers writes "If there were never any clouds in our lives, we would have no faith. 'The clouds are the dust of His feet'. They are a sign that God is there." I like that.

My Delight

I delight in butterflies flitting about from flower to flower. It brought me immense joy yesterday to stand in the garden surrounded by colorful flowers and delicately beautiful butterflies.

C. H. Spurgeon delighted in whatever God decreed. He said "Let me live, if God will be with me in life. Let me die, if He will be with me in death. So long as I am 'forever with the Lord,' what else matters? What God decrees is my delight." No matter what came, Spurgeon found delight because he was with the Lord.

May the Lord always be my delight.