Sheltering In Place

Sheltering In Place

Psalm 91

            This has been a severe winter.  Hardly a day goes by without a news report about bad weather hitting some part of the country.  The biggest problem has been the number of storms that have affected areas usually free from snow, ice, and below-freezing temperatures—at least spared for most of the winter.  A few days below freezing, or one or perhaps two episodes of snow and/or ice is one thing.  Repeated cold snaps and debilitating storms is quite another.  People all over the country have been asking, “When will it end?  I can’t take much more of this.”  Some states have exceeded their snow and ice removal budgets by so much that they don’t know where the money will come from.  This extra financial burden at a time when the economy seems to be recovering much too slowly only makes the situation more unbearable.

            Newspapers, television and the internet are full of pictures of traffic tie-ups going on for miles and lasting for hours or even days.  We see cars stranded in deep snow, or on icy roads that have become impassable.  Even though officials warn people to stay where they are, many drivers seem to think that message doesn’t apply to them.  They believe they are capable enough to avoid trouble.  Or their reason for getting behind the wheel is so overwhelming they feel they have no choice.  They won’t get stuck.  They’ll make it to their destination.  They must make it.  They must accomplish their purpose.  Those of us who are smart enough to stay home look at the stopped-up roads and wonder what was so important that people had to risk their lives to get someplace other than where they were when the storm hit.

            The call from government officials and disaster preparedness leaders is simple:  shelter in place.  Stay where you are.  Nothing is worth being caught out in bad weather and risking your safety.

            Many psalms speak of sheltering in the protected places God creates for us.  Psalm 121 begins, “I lift up my eyes to the hills.  From where does my help come?  My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”  The psalmist acknowledges that God’s help is invaluable in times of trouble.  Better to look to the Lord for help than rely on our own strength—or abilities, or intelligence, or wisdom.

            Perhaps Psalm 91 says it best:  “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.”  The psalmist goes on to describe exactly what the protection of the Almighty entails for the one who shelters in place.  Dwelling in the shadow of the Most High God affords protection from snares, from pestilence, from night terrors (and who among us hasn’t suffered from them), and even from the deadly attacks of those who would do us harm.

            Most of us have lived long enough to know that not even God’s shadow will protect us from all evil.  We’ve seen friends and family members become disabled by disease or injury, or fall victim to hard times.  We know that the fortress of the Most High does not give us a charmed life.  If that were true, we would have no trouble evangelizing the world for the God in whom we place our trust. 

What we do know is that the God of Israel, the Almighty One who has redeemed us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, will not allow any trouble to destroy the God-human relationship.  God is in charge of the world and all that is in it, and God will be the ultimate victor, both in our lives and in human history.  As long as we realize that our help is in God, and rely on God’s strength, as long as we shelter in place under the shadow of the Most High, no storm will overcome us, and no trouble will defeat us.

How can we fail to accept God’s offer of a place of shelter?