God is our Refuge and Strength [mighty and impenetrable to temptation], a very present and well-proved help in trouble. Psalm 46:1, Amplified Bible
What trouble am I having in my life right now? Lately, I have been struggling with a great deal of anxiety. One of the reasons for this is my lack of intimacy with God and His Word, just being still with Him. I desperately need to take time with Jesus each and every day — at least once a day — to just sit with Him and really talk to Him, and then spend time listening. Daily, I read His Word. But it is vital to me that I Let be and be still, and know (recognize and understand) that [He is] God. Psalm 46:10, Amplified Bible. Psalm 46:1 shows me clearly just how beautiful and profound the results of doing so can be! Will you walk with me through what I discovered when I spent some time with Jesus and this verse?
Jesus is my Refuge, my Strength (mighty and impenetrable to temptation), a very present and well-proved help in trouble! WOW! Did I know this? Not entirely; not before reading and talking this Scripture over with Jesus today! While I knew that God was my Refuge and my Strength, I was not aware that He is impenetrable to temptation! So just what does this mean to me? First, it tells me that, when I am struggling, such as I have been with anxiety, I can run to Him and hide within Him: His Word assures me in Colossians 3:3, For [as far as this world is concerned] you have died, and your [new, real] life is hidden with Christ in God [Amplified Bible].” What a wonderful Truth and revelation! In Christ, I am hidden from the world’s lures and from the enemy and his arrows. Is that not what I am promised in Ephesians 6, too, when the Lord plainly tells me, “Lift up over all the [covering] shield of saving faith, upon which you can quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked [one]. (v.16, Amplified Bible)
Jesus does not say that I can quench SOME of the flaming missiles of the wicked one, but ALL of the flaming darts and arrows and barbs that he fires my way! Each and every one of them WILL be extinguished, if I will put on the shield of saving faith, which Jesus has given me. And the Lord says that He has given each and every one of us this saving faith in Romans 4:16 (NLT): So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe.
What a tremendous promise! And so what do we now know? That by receiving the free gift of faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who gave Himself up as a ransom for our sin, paying our penalty in full, we can run into Him, our Lord and Saviour, seeking Him as a Strong Refuge, and be fully hidden from the flaming arrows of the evil one, our enemy of the faith. By so doing, we are shielded from temptation to sin. And what kind of shield do we have? An IMPENETRABLE Shield! That means that absolutely NO temptation can get through to us and cause us to fall as long as we are willing to run to Jesus and hide ourselves in Him as our Strong Tower, our Refuge, our ever-present Help in times of trouble!
But how can I be sure? If I am lacking in past experience, I can turn to Hebrews 12 for assurance:
Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us, Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Just think of Him Who endured from sinners such grievous opposition and bitter hostility against Himself [reckon up and consider it all in comparison with your trials], so that you may not grow weary or exhausted, losing heart and relaxing and fainting in your minds. (v.1-3, Amplified Bible)
We can study the life of Jesus to learn how to avoid and resist temptation by His perfect example, and we can also study the lives of the saints listed in Hebrews 11, our “great cloud of witnesses.” By learning how they depended on the Lord as their “Leader and the Source of faith” so as to be able to turn away from the sin that so easily entangles and run with endurance the race that is set before us. These heroes of the faith had the same race as you and I, my friends. And they were not more or less than we. But they had the same great and almighty God to lean on, turn to, and depend upon that we have; the same Warrior King to fight their battles for them! And because of this, they were victorious! And we can be too, my brothers and sisters in Christ! We just have to stand strong, be courageous and believe what Jesus says in His Word when He promised us in John 16:33 (Amplified Bible): “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]”
Will you choose to believe that Jesus overcame the world to give you victory in Him today? You only need faith the size of a mustard seed and you can move mountains! Praise be to God the Father, the Holy Spirit, and the Lord Jesus Christ today! Amen!