A Strong Tower
The Christians' Place of Refuge
By Todd Uebele
"2 I will say of the LORD, 'He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.'
3 Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart." -- Psalm 91:2-4
Whenever we go shopping at a Target or Wal-Mart with the kids, my wife will usually hit up the dollar section and buy our two older kids something to encourage them to be good, or reward them for having been good. For a mere $2 you can buy two hours worth of good behavior from two kids! Now, some might look upon this as a sort of bribery, but I prefer to think of it as positive reinforcement. It is all part of good parenting, right?
Well, on one particular trip to Target, my wife decided to get our kids each something from the dollar section. My son’s choice was a set of erasers. These were no ordinary erasers, they were sports erasers. Each one shaped like a different kind of ball. There were baseballs, basketballs, soccer balls, even footballs. My son does not need to do any erasing, mind you, but he loved the way they looked. Plus, they were only a dollar, a small price to pay for a four year old to behave while you are doing your shopping.
Later that evening my son and I were watching some shows together and he took out his erasers. He used them to build a nice tower on our coffee table. After he was done he looked at me and smiled. I smiled back and reached my hand over and he said, "Uh oh, it's gonna fall!"
I then grabbed the bottom one and pulled. The tower came tumbling down. He thought it was the funniest thing! I had never heard him laugh so loud! He promptly rebuilt the tower and said, “do it again, dad!”
We went back and forth a little bit, he would build the tower and I would knock it down. He was laughing so hard he was in tears. He wandered off after a little while only to return a few minutes later and rebuild his “tower” again. This time, I leaned over and blew real hard…and down came the tower! Again, my son went into hysterics. It was good fun for him, and easy for me. After all, a tower of erasers is not that strong of a tower and very easy to knock down.
The slightest bit of force is enough to cause his "eraser tower" to come crumbling down. In contrast, Christians have a tower that can withstand any force the enemy can bring to bear. This tower is stronger than anything we could ever imagine. The Bible tells us, “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe” (Proverbs 18:10). Whenever we are in need, whenever we need a place of refuge, whenever we need help of any sort, we can turn to God and He will protect us, deliver us and help us.
Help From God
While most of the Psalms in the Bible are commonly held to be written by King David, some were written by other authors. Some of the Psalms tell us who the author is, some do not say so expressly. One such Psalm is Psalm 91. Some scholars believe Moses to be the author of this particular Psalm. He did write Psalm 90, and some of the imagery in 91 is very similar. Also, many expressions here used are similar to those Moses uses in the book of Deuteronomy. The internal evidence, from the peculiar writing styles, would point towards him as the author.
The general drift of the scenery and allusions of Psalm 91 point to it being authored by Moses during the journey through the wilderness. After the dramatic events of the plagues of Egypt, and their escape from the pursuing Egyptians through the Red Sea, the children of Israel in the wilderness encountered not only political enemies but also other evils in great numbers. The desert exposed them to harsh climatic conditions during the day and night, however the miraculous canopy of
the cloud that hung over them in the day, and pillar of fire at night provided welcome relief.[1]
Whether or not Moses it the actual author of Psalm 91, we can read the events of Exodus and see how the Israelites all but rested "in the shadow of the Almighty." From the plagues they were delivered from before they left, to the ten thousand that perished at their right hand in the Red Sea. God took care of His people, guiding them by a cloud at day and by a pillar of fire at night.
God promises to take care of us in the same way. In each of each and every instance, our Lord promises to be our place of refuge, our "strong tower" that we can run into and be safe. Granted, few of us have entire armies pursuing us or are living through actual plagues. However, I am sure each and every one of us goes through periods of life where we need to rest in the shadow of the Almighty, where we need to find refuge under His wings.
I know I do.
Just recently, as a matter of fact, God delivered my family and I from a pretty substantial hole we found ourselves in. It started out as not too bad a problem, just some minor car difficulty. A busted fuel pump, nothing major, right? Well, I called all around town to try and get a fuel pump for our car. We only have the one car, so it needed to get fixed in a hurry. Well, every single shop and supply place I called said the fuel pump for my car was a "dealer item only." Finally, I broke down and called the dealer.
I can hear all of you groaning..."nooooooooo, why did you do that???? You NEVER call the dealer!!" Believe you me, I know, and after this last experience, never will I call the dealer again (more on this later). Anyway, the nearest dealer is over 50 miles away, in Mobile, AL. I called my insurance to have them tow it, and the lady on the other end looked around to see if there was a closer place to get the part I needed, but alas, even the insurance company could not find someplace closer.
The dealer fixed the problem, alright, but on my car, the fuel pump is inside the fuel tank. Apparently there is a whole assembly it is part of. Of course, they had to replace the whole assembly, not just the fuel pump, and because it is inside the fuel tank, it cost twice as much in labor. By the time all was said and done, we were set back $700! We did not have that kind of cash handy, but I did have my trusty American Express card. Because of the way the statement cycle was set up, that would give me a whole month to come up with the money to cover the repair.
Every day that month I prayed for the money to cover the car repair. One week passed, and I kept praying. Two weeks passed, and I prayed a little harder. Three weeks passed, and I started praying quite fervently. Then the AmEx bill came, and by now I was praying very hard, many times a day. Well, I juggled a few things and managed to pay the AmEx bill. And I kept praying. Another week went by, and I started to drop some of the bills I was juggling. Still, I prayed. I confess, at this point, I did start wonder, but still, I praying and kept faith.
Then Hurricane Dennis blew through. A day before it hit, it was a cat 4 storm and they had no idea where it would make landfall. We got in our car and headed up to Nashville to sit out the storm with all the other "Dennis refugees." We were fortunate enough to be spared the hurricane, but the trip took more money that we did not have. I dropped some more bills I was juggling. At this point, I did not want to ask God, "what's taking so long?" But I would be lying if I said the thought never crossed my mind. Bills were passed due, passed being passed due; creditors were calling. I could not help but wonder.
That is ok though. Sometimes it seems like God is taking His "sweet ol' time" in coming to our aid. There is nothing wrong in feeling that way. Even David, the "apple of God's eye" wondered aloud:
How long, O LORD ? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and every day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
Look on me and answer, O LORD my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;
my enemy will say, "I have overcome him,"
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing to the LORD,
for he has been good to me. -- Psalm 13
I confess I started wondering "How long, O Lord until you come through and help me get out of this financial hole I am in?" Then our A/C broke. Within three hours, our house was up to 80 degrees, and this was at night! The next day, I was through. I had no more bills to drop, and was looking at a new compressor for our home A/C. I couldn't do it anymore. I told God as much. I even apologized to Him, but I could not juggle bills when there was no money to keep anything afloat.
The very next day, I paid off all of our passed due bills save one.
Also, it turned out the compressor was fine. A capacitor blew up and that caused the compressor to stop working. Granted it was not a cheap repair, but it was much cheaper then having to get a new compressor. A week after the A/C was fixed, I paid our final passed due bill (which, ironically enough, was the car payment). Now, not only are we up to date, but some bills are paid in advance and we have a small cushion. That's not all; my wife is due to start classes at the local state university. She almost was unable to sign up. We were very late on her tuition for last term. Well, we received the money to pay that off as well. Not only that, but she qualified for enough financial aid to cover all her tuition this semester! The only thing we need to front for are her books.
As one friend put it recently, I had "thrown in the towel" when it came to my finances. That is when God picked it up. See, I had been praying about it, but I had not really given it up to Him. I had not taken refuge in Him. I asked for help, yes, but God did not want to just help me, He wanted to take care of me. He did not want to merely put a "band aid" on the gaping wound, he wanted to heal it completely. He could only do that when I completely turned everything over to Him. When I could not do it anymore, when I "threw in towel," that is when God moved. I finally had sought refuge in Him. Then and only then was I safe.
Help From 'Family'
Not too long ago, I shared my experience at our Church's men's breakfast. As I was sharing one of the men piped up, "I could have gotten you that part for much cheaper. You should have called me."
We joked that had I done that, I would have had nothing to share, but the truth is, I should have called him. I should have gone to my church family as soon as things were amiss. I did go to the Lord first thing, as each of us should. However, the second thing we should do is seek out our family in Christ and go them for help. That is something I failed to do. I could have saved a lot of money and an even greater amount of grief had I done so.
One might think asking another person for help could show a lack of trust in God, but I think it works the other way around. After all, when my family and I first moved to Mississippi, the Navy stopped paying me three weeks early. God helped us through a friend who gave us a no interest, no ties, pay-me-back-when-you-can loan. There is no doubt God saved us in that situation and He used a friend to do it.
God can use whatever means He chooses to help us in our situation; we need to make sure we recognize it as help. For example, the story is told of a man who was caught in a flood. He was in a multistory building and soon the entire first floor was under water. A friend came by in a row boat and pressed him to get in and get to safety.
"No, that's ok," the man replied, "I know that God will save me."
The flood waters continued to rise, and when a few more floors were underneath water some rescue workers came by in motor boat and strongly encouraged him to get in and get to safety.
"No, that's ok," the man replied again, "I know that God will save me!"
Well, the flood waters kept rising until the man was stranded on the roof of the building. Water started lapping at his ankles when a Coast Guard helicopter arrived on the scene. They were preparing to lower the hoist and send down a rescue swimmer if need be, but the man would have none of that.
"I have faith that God will save me!" he shouted up to the aircrew.
Well, the waters rose even more and the man died. When he got to Heaven he asked God, in utter confusion, "God, why didn't you save me?"
God looked at him very patiently and said, "I sent you a row boat, a motor boat, and a helicopter! What else did you want?"
That is pretty much the situation I found myself in. My "helicopter" was my 401(k). I really did not want to pull money from it, but that was my last option. Without it, I would have been "sunk." I actually wondered if it would show a lack of trust in God if I were to use that money. God was very patient with me however, and showed me that it was, in fact, ok to use that money. Sure enough, relief was seemingly instantaneous.
I could have been free a lot sooner had I gotten in the row boat instead. If I had gone to my church family in the very beginning and told them of my need, I could have saved weeks of grief and stress. That is likely why James encourages us to pray and go to our church family when in need:
13Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. -- James 5:13-15
In my own situation, I did pray. I did quite a bit of praying, I assure you. However, I did not call my church family. Just think, if I had called upon my church family, it is very likely they could have helped me out substantially and saved me those months of stress, worry and late payments. They very well might not have been able to, but they could have prayed with me and for me. Jesus says, "I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven" (Matthew 18:19). I prayed by myself. If I had prayed with my church family, if they asked for help with me, God may have answered even sooner.
This is all hindsight in my own situation, I could have called on my church family and things could have proceeded exactly as they had, but I do not think so. The Bible tells us to carry each other's burdens. How can your church family carry your burden if you do not tell them you are being weighed down?
CONCLUSION:
If you find yourself in trouble of any kind, go to the Lord, “under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart” (Psalm 91:4b). He will protect you and aid you in your time of need. Give over all your worries. The Bible tells us, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7). No matter what your situation, no matter what your problem, no matter what adversity you find yourself in, give it completely up to God. Once you do, don't try and take it back. Leave it with Him and embrace the peace He brings to you. He will "heal" a situation that we an only put a "band aid" on.
After you approach our Father in prayer, approach your church family. It can be the pastor, an elder, or any member of your church you feel comfortable sharing with. All you need to do is ask them to pray for you. In relaying your situation, they may be able to provide material support or put in you touch with someone who can. However, even if all they can do is pray for you, having someone in your corner and knowing there is someone in your corner provided a good deal of encouragement. I did ask two "family members" to pray for me, and while they could not help me, they provided a good bit of prayer and encouragement that carried me through. Both the Lord and your church family can and will carry you through whatever adversity comes your way. Remember, the Lord is our strong tower. He may use your church family to help you, or He may aide you directly. Either way, complete and total deliverance comes from the Lord.
