Diane and I are nervous about going out in public. I need a haircut but antsy about getting close to the barber, or should I say stylist? Diane goes to the grocery store but is ever cautious; get in and get out quickly. We’re wary about carry-outs for dinner, though now and then we do. We had imagined that these early weeks of retirement we’d be out, doing things we enjoy, being with one another, but instead we have what? In-home arrest?
Attitude is everything. 1 Peter 1:5 says God’s power is guarding us through faith. Sometimes translations hide the impact of God’s promises, and this is one instance. “You are being guarded” is the image of a military fort. We can paraphrase, “God’s keeping you safe within His fort.” While we can’t go out without masks or cares, we know our deepest being is safe in God’s fortress. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear” (Psalm 46:1).
Maturing in faith brings ever-increasing happiness in God. Whatever the chaos outside, we trust we’re ultimately safe within His “fort.” His promises are the strong walls keeping sin and evil at bay. Of course, this isn’t a physical fort but it’s still real. It’s our comfort at home and our assurance wherever we go, grocery store, barber, work, even to the hospital. “The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27). That’s an attitude changer. Haven’t you seen how faith, though unseen, makes a real difference in your life? I expect you have and pray you are experiencing the difference God’s promises make in our present troubled times. It’s good within the gates and will be even better when the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2) will come, the walls of faith we need now for protection will become history, and we’ll realize the goal of faith, “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are by God’s power…being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice” (1 Peter 1:4-6).
“In thine arms I rest me; / Foes who would molest me / Cannot reach me here.
Though the earth be shaking, / Ev’ry heart be quaking, / Jesus calms my fear.
Lightnings flash and thunders crash; / Yet, though sin and hell assail me,
Jesus will not fail me.” (Lutheran Service Book 743:2)
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