Fortress
There are moments in our lives that are pivotal.
There are moments when our very foundation seems to shake and feel on the verge of crumbling.
There are moments in our lives when it feels as though the very things that provided security leave us exposed and vulnerable.
These are the moments when we begin to wonder if the all-powerful, all mighty God that we have heard so much about and believed in will stand with and for us. We wonder if the God that has confirmed our baptism is present and watching over us or has left us to fall to our enemy.
Yesterday I spent time walking along the rampart of the city. The view was stunning, I could see the villages in every direction rising out of the desert. I saw a sneak peak into the everyday lives of those who live here in the city, as their outdoor patios were filled with simple chairs and always a long table that was an invitation to sit and become part of the family.
It was during this walk that I began to hear God whisper these phrases over and over.
I am your fortress
I am your strong-tower
I am your watch tower
I am your rock.
These words that are so often used within the Christian lingo are so often empty and fail to convey the essence of our God. They leave us hanging and failing to grasp the fullness of God.
Yet standing atop the fortress there was a presence.
I could imagine the years of a city under siege, always trying to defend itself from the enemies that stalked them, trying to find a spot in which they could penetrate and over those within the walls. I could imagine the fear of the unknown. Always over my shoulder was a watch-tower, a spot in which it was someone's job to watch over the city. To ring the bell in the plight of incoming danger. To rise them out of their slumber and into action.
We do not live in a place where fortresses or watch-towers are present {yes there is the watch tower on Firetower Rd but we do not see it on a daily basis and only understand it as a way to watch for fire}. While we might not live in a place where those physical reminders surround us we have stood in the waters of baptism and accepted God's reign in our lives.
Through the waters of baptism and the fire of the spirit we step into a relationship with a God who loves us so much that when the hard questions of life come rising forth He is going to surround us in a fortress of protection. The protection may not always be what we had hoped and longed for but it is a fortress of security. There is a security that He is never going to let us go, that when our choices leave us broken he is going to fill in the cracks and safe guard us.
When the pivotal moments of distress and question rise; when the world is pressing in on us and wants to crush us God rises and says I am the one building a wall around you. When the crumbling of our souls begin and the devastation of our situations are stripping us of our steadiness, God looks out for us. He is our watch-tower, the very one that seeks to warn us when we are about to make decisions that will lead us astray.
God does not want me to suffer, he does not want me to become crushed by the world or situation.
God wants to rise and be my fortress, to see inside the very heart of my being those intimate places that not everyone is privy to experience. God seeks to walk above my every moment so that he might offer a sense of security that he isn't going to leave me exposed.
You are my fortress....you are my watch-tower...you are my holy of holies.
There are moments when our very foundation seems to shake and feel on the verge of crumbling.
There are moments in our lives when it feels as though the very things that provided security leave us exposed and vulnerable.
These are the moments when we begin to wonder if the all-powerful, all mighty God that we have heard so much about and believed in will stand with and for us. We wonder if the God that has confirmed our baptism is present and watching over us or has left us to fall to our enemy.
Yesterday I spent time walking along the rampart of the city. The view was stunning, I could see the villages in every direction rising out of the desert. I saw a sneak peak into the everyday lives of those who live here in the city, as their outdoor patios were filled with simple chairs and always a long table that was an invitation to sit and become part of the family.
It was during this walk that I began to hear God whisper these phrases over and over.
I am your fortress
I am your strong-tower
I am your watch tower
I am your rock.
These words that are so often used within the Christian lingo are so often empty and fail to convey the essence of our God. They leave us hanging and failing to grasp the fullness of God.
Yet standing atop the fortress there was a presence.
I could imagine the years of a city under siege, always trying to defend itself from the enemies that stalked them, trying to find a spot in which they could penetrate and over those within the walls. I could imagine the fear of the unknown. Always over my shoulder was a watch-tower, a spot in which it was someone's job to watch over the city. To ring the bell in the plight of incoming danger. To rise them out of their slumber and into action.
We do not live in a place where fortresses or watch-towers are present {yes there is the watch tower on Firetower Rd but we do not see it on a daily basis and only understand it as a way to watch for fire}. While we might not live in a place where those physical reminders surround us we have stood in the waters of baptism and accepted God's reign in our lives.
Through the waters of baptism and the fire of the spirit we step into a relationship with a God who loves us so much that when the hard questions of life come rising forth He is going to surround us in a fortress of protection. The protection may not always be what we had hoped and longed for but it is a fortress of security. There is a security that He is never going to let us go, that when our choices leave us broken he is going to fill in the cracks and safe guard us.
When the pivotal moments of distress and question rise; when the world is pressing in on us and wants to crush us God rises and says I am the one building a wall around you. When the crumbling of our souls begin and the devastation of our situations are stripping us of our steadiness, God looks out for us. He is our watch-tower, the very one that seeks to warn us when we are about to make decisions that will lead us astray.
God does not want me to suffer, he does not want me to become crushed by the world or situation.
God wants to rise and be my fortress, to see inside the very heart of my being those intimate places that not everyone is privy to experience. God seeks to walk above my every moment so that he might offer a sense of security that he isn't going to leave me exposed.
You are my fortress....you are my watch-tower...you are my holy of holies.
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