Promises, promises

Week Of: September 19, 2022
Speaker: Pastor Will Hagenbuch
Scripture: Psalm 91

If you make the LORD your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home. — Psalm 92:9-10

 Scoffers to Christianity gain leverage when they hear verses like this and refute them without time and thought. Their reaction is, “You who walk with God do experience evil and it conquers you (or those nearest you). Also, plagues of some kind do come near you or a loved one. They they consume you.”

This is not true. The psalmist is right. Evil does not conquer you if you make the Most High your refuge and shelter. Hear what the psalmist says. Evil does not conquer you. Evil comes close to you. Evil moves into your house, too. Evil can saddle up to you and become such a familiar voice you may mistakenly call this action or advice commonplace or even normal.

But trust me, I am witness to the fact that when you make your refuge in the God who is Most High, and STAY in this refuge with the God who is Most High, then evil does NOT conquer you. It may wound you. It may scar you. It may hold your head under water so long that you fear you will die without air, but evil will NOT conquer you. As for modern day plagues that include colds, flus, the latest Covid strain, or some Really Bad Health report may bring down—like really down—but if your shelter is with God then your eventual future is neither death nor sorrow; it is life forever with God.

Gain leverage. Make the LORD your refuge. Make the Most High your shelter. Knock evil out. Weather any storm not with worry but with our God who, through His Son, is with you.

PRAYER: Lord, I am Yours even—or especially—when it feels like I am sinking. Yes, again and always, I am Yours. Amen.