Ruthless people are no threat to us

But you are a tower of refuge to the poor, O Lord, a tower of refuge to the needy in distress. You are a refuge from the storm and a shelter from the heat. For the oppressive acts of ruthless people are like a storm beating against a wall, or like the relentless heat of the desert. But you silence the roar of foreign nations. As the shade of a cloud cools relentless heat, so the boastful songs of ruthless people are stilled. (Isaiah 25:4-5)

A tower of refuge to the needy in distress. The more we read of God's power to protect his creation, the more it should drive us into his arms. Why? We live in a world where 'oppressive acts of ruthless people' can get us down quicker than we know. We need the protection of God's presence, but we also need the protection of his Word. The Word is a powerful tool to combat the lies of the enemy and to expose all manner of deception - the deception 'ruthless people' seem to operate under.

Ruthless people operate in a realm where they take no pity on anyone. All are up for grabs - everything is fair game to them. They are cruel and merciless. There is no middle ground where they are concerned. As much as they are unrelenting in their attacks, they are also as unforgiving in their attitude. They have a tendency to be rather barbarous in their behavior. We might find them a bit too 'callous' for our liking. There seems to be no end to their cold-hearted attacks on the innocent and weak. 

We cannot always avoid difficulties or the threats of difficult people. We live with them, work with them, and find them while standing in line at the supermarket. They are just 'there'. What we must do is learn how to use what God gives us to stand strong in the midst of their attacks. His Word reminds us he is stronger than anything that comes against us. It bolsters our waning faith with the reminder he never leaves us or forsakes us. When we feel abandoned, that is a lie straight out of the pit of hell.

A refuge is a safe place. We are not to fear individuals or things that threaten our well-being in either a physical or spiritual sense. While we might all want to live within the shelter of 'refuge' every minute of every day, we all know the reality of being 'vulnerable' to attack. We actually might find ourselves in 'difficult situations' that try our faith and create a sense of 'unease' in our lives. Even in the midst of these 'difficulties' God is our refuge from whatever 'storm' rages around us. We just have to learn within the shelter of his arms. Just sayin!

More than surviving

Help us defeat the enemy! No one on earth can rescue us. Only God can make us strong. Only God can defeat our enemies! (Psalm 108:12-13)

Defeat:  To prevail over, vanquish, overcome in battle; to frustrate or thwart; to eliminate or cut off from what was expected.  We can all remember times when we seemed to be vanquished by some force bigger, more difficult to resist than our own abilities could handle.  Those moments invoked fear in us, or perhaps just plain sadness and a sense of helplessness as we stood there under the attack of whatever it was.  This sense of overwhelming frustration can overcome us with such force we almost cannot stand under the weight of it. I don't think these are times God intends for us to face alone!  In fact, he will help us defeat our enemies if we just ask him to and then stand assured in his help.

There is no power on this earth stronger than our God.  He is able to thwart the craftiest of plans laid against us - whether they be plans in the realm of our finances, health, or mental strength.  He is the one to make us strong. We don't find strength from somewhere within - because we don't possess the natural strength to be able to withstand the pressure mounting within, nor the stresses coming at us from without.  There is no one on earth capable of providing rescue - it is only by God's hand and according to his plan that we realize our deliverance.

I think there is no greater joy God receives than to actually hear us utter those words indicating we need his help.  To actually acknowledge that we are not going to "go this one alone" is something which gives him delight - not because he wants a bunch of mamby-pamby followers, but because he wants us to rest in him, ceasing from our own efforts to overcome what presses in against us. That dependence upon God doesn't mean we are weak, but that we have learned to trust and rest! You know this is beginning to occur when you are not calculating the ways you can thwart the attack, but rather find yourself leaning into God's graces a little harder and with excited expectation.  The attack is still quite real, but the anticipation of it defeating you is not!  In fact, you see quite the opposite effect - you see the plans of the enemy thwarted. This doesn't mean you know "how" the enemy will be thwarted, but just that you "know" it because you are trusting God with the plans and not yourself.

When the enemy is tightly closing in around you, the "war" seems like more than your can handle, this is when you need to talk yourself into trusting God and not your own efforts.  Our first response to "big issues" is often that of fear. God made us with this fight or flight response - we either will rise up when feeling threatened, or we will want to run away - both are equally "defensive" postures we may take.  To do something different requires us to center our attention and energies in a different "place" - we place those attentions and energies squarely in the hands of God.  This takes us "commanding" our attention to be on God and not the problem at hand. This is why David begins with praise and worship - to get his mind centered on God.  Where the mind goes, the heart will follow.  Where the heart is solidly directed, the outcomes will be different!  Just sayin!