The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.
Proverbs 18:10
Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
Psalm 55:22
A sergeant in a parachute regiment was seated next to a lieutenant fresh from jump school. The lieutenant was quiet, and looked a bit pale, so the sergeant struck up a conversation. ‘Scared, lieutenant?’ The lieutenant replied, ‘No. I’m just a bit apprehensive.’ The sergeant inquired, ‘What’s the difference?’ ‘Well,’ he said, ‘that means I’m scared with a university education.’
Call it what you want to, fear is something all of us experience from time to time!
Our hearts go out to those Israelis who woke up on Saturday morning to the agony of a terrorist attack.
One mother described that the kibbutz was breached and she and her husband and two children sheltered in a safe room. She said their children were trembling in terror under body armour while she and her husband stood poised with guns aimed at the safe room door, waiting for it to be clobbered. Finally they were rescued by soldiers.
My family and I toured in Ashkelon, Israel this past February, and discovered that each floor of our motel had two safe rooms. It was a small, bare, concrete room with steel doors. How horrendous it must be for the children especially, having to spend hours in rooms like that all over the country. It’s hard to imagine people hating you so much just for being a Jew!
Have you experienced something that was intensely frightening?
Sooner or later, each one of us will be smacked with something so suddenly, so intensely that our hearts will leap into our throats. Our God-given emotion of fear will kick in. What will your response be?
Oh, how these two verses capture the response I want to have. In my moment of fear, I want to run – not stroll – run to the Lord for safety. I want to cast my burden on Him, like the Christians of Acts 12 did when the Apostle Peter faced imminent death. Praise the Lord for hearing their prayers and graciously giving Peter back to them.
Let me close with Philippians 4:6, which says, ‘Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.’ The next verse says, ‘And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.’ Peace guards the one who casts their burdens on the Lord.
Father, we ask for mercy on the Israeli people. Lord, like an infant runs to a parent in a time of danger, teach me to trust You for each little fright, each tiny concern, each miniscule need. Build in me such a habit of going to You with my problems that it becomes second nature. Then when a serious distress shocks me, help me to be so used to casting my small burdens upon You that it is ‘business as usual’ to cast my huge burdens upon You too. Thank You that safety is found in You. I ask in the strong Name of the Lord Jesus, Amen.