Focus

Take a few minutes to push the “pause” button on whatever is going on around you and be still with God.

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Read

Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

You who live in the shelter of the Most High,
who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,

will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress;
my God, in whom I trust.”

For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence;

he will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.

You will not fear the terror of the night,
or the arrow that flies by day,

or the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
or the destruction that wastes at noonday.

Those who love me, I will deliver;
I will protect those who know my name.

When they call to me, I will answer them;
I will be with them in trouble,
I will rescue them and honor them.

With long life I will satisfy them,
and show them my salvation.

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Reflect

There is a whole lot that goes on in Psalm 91:1. 1 Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. If we live – I mean, really live – in the shelter of God, we will be well-rested, no matter what comes our way. Put another way, God casts a big shadow. And if failures, loss, disappointment, have beaten you until you are a mere “shadow” of your former self, look around for shelter – God’s shelter. Psalm 91 defines what God will do and does. And the Psalmist is saying, “I believe this beyond a shadow of a doubt!” Actually, that last phrase has an origin. According to The Phrase Finder, an online phrase dictionary, “If something is said to be ‘beyond a shadow of a doubt’ the speaker is certain that it is true, with no possibility of ambiguity. The article continues, “A thing being a shadow of its former self has long been used to indicate a thing reduced in power and substance. For example, the phrase ‘a shadow of a man’ has been used since the 16th century to refer to a man much diminished from his earlier stature… and to indicate something not merely ‘without doubt’ but without even the smallest, most insubstantial scrap of doubt. I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt in God’s promises of shelter and protection. God promises that He will rescue, protect, answer, and be with us. God promises that He will be with us in trouble, and will honor us. God will honor and reward us with a long life and with salvation.

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Pray

Lord, let us look for You. Let us find You. Help us find shelter in Your shadow, that we will become much more than our own mere shadow. Help us to so intently seek, find, trust and follow Your lead that we suddenly realize we have cast off who we used to be and have become who You know we are. In Christ, we pray, Amen.

Go with God!