Living in the Protective Presence of God
Those who trust in the
Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever. As the
mountains surround Jerusalem so the Lord surrounds his people both now and
forever. Psalm 125:1, 2
(Two things you can always see in Santiago: the Andes Mountains and Smog)
I spent many of my childhood
years in Santiago, Chile, one of the cities with the highest level of air
pollution in the world. This is because it sits in a valley surrounded with
mountains so that all of the smog emitted by autos and factories cannot escape
but remains building up in a city of over six million inhabitants. We, however,
can be surrounded by God as the mountains around Santiago so that not smog, but
the presence and goodness of God can be what we inhale and exhale daily in our
lungs.
During
World War I and II the German's never occupied neutral Switzerland because that
nations is made up of mountains. These mountains made that nation unconquerable
for invading forces. So is the presence of God like mountains of protection
that protect us from hostile forces such fear, anger, and jealousy. "If the Lord had not been on our
side...the flood would have engulfed us. Psalm 124:11, 4b.
In 1953 an entire province of
the Netherlands (Zeeland) was flooded due to a large storm which broke a wall
of dikes. Over two thousand people died in that natural disaster. Since then,
this small nation has invested billions of euros into securing a system of inpenetrable
dikes and dams that should make such a flood impossible again. In 2005,
Hurricane Katrina destroyed the city of New Orleans because such a system of
dikes and dams had not been built to secure that city. Our best place where we
can find refuge and safety is not in dikes or dams, but in knowing the reality
of the protective presence of God.
A lot of
where we find our security and peace of mind is determined by what we focus on.
The Prophet Isaiah says that God "will
keep in perfect peace all who trust in you [God], all whose thoughts are fixed
on you!" (Isaiah 26:3). Paul writes that "we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s
glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory..."
(2 Cor. 3:18). We
become like what we look at. What we believe at the core of our being truly
forms us.
When I spend a lot of time focusing
on news and politics, I become discouraged and unhappy. But when I spend time
meditating on God and his word, I come to life. We will shine when we fill
ourselves up with God's presence, but if we only think about darkness we may
suck it up like a sponge takes in a bottle of black ink. This may be catastrophic
for ourselves and those around us because: "...as a man thinks in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 27:3 NKJV).
This is why together with the
psalmist I rejoice with those who said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord" (Psalm 122:1). Getting
to know God and being with him changes everything in our lives. Like butter
melting on an iron pan or snow melting in the summer sun, so God's
irresistible, loving presence changes everything. His eternal faithless and
boundless love truly fills my heart with good things. It is in His faithfulness
and beauty that I put my life's trust and therein I find great love, peace,
satisfaction and security.
Those who live in
the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1
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