April 09, 2021: Taking Refuge in God In Difficult Times Calls Us to Become Powerless Before Our God.

In today's reading of Our Daily Bread, the story addresses, "Refuge for the Rejected". David was on the run from King Saul before he eventually took over the throne of Israel. David was

falsely accused of leading a rebellion and he was forced to hide from Saul’s approaching army in a cave. David described being “in the midst of lions,” among “men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords”

Psalm 57: 4 (NKJV)

My soul is among lions;

I lie among the sons of men

Who are set on fire,

Whose teeth are spears and arrows,

And their tongue a sharp sword.

But even in that difficult place, David turned to God and found comfort in Him: “For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies” (v. 10). When others misunderstand or reject us, God is our “refuge”

Psalm 57: 1 (NKJV)

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me!

For my soul trusts in You;

And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge,

Until these calamities have passed by.

In the difficult times of our lives, whether it be in our marriage, in our finances, in our work, or even during our times with our walk with God, we must come before God with an attitude of being powerless in the very circumstance we are dealing with. This means coming before our God with the abandonment of trying to fix the very circumstance by our own power. We must be "absolutely surrendered" and helpless in all before God.

It is so easy for us in wanting to be in control of the circumstances of our lives. But if we look at the history of our lives, we will see the complete devastation we have left behind us. We must come to the point of being completely tired of being in control. We must allow God to be in control of every aspect of our life.

PERSONNAL COMMENT:

For us to truly find the peace we are looking for in our lives, we must come to "complete and absolute surrender" to God. It is then, and only then, will we find the peace we are looking for and be able to fully rest in the arms of our Loving Father.