“Shelter is not a restraint to be avoided but is a gift to be received.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – October 3, 2024
The highway of the upright avoids evil; those who guard their ways preserve their lives. Proverbs 16:17, NIV
I remember the tension of coming of age in a conservative family and community, one that would have easily earned me the label “sheltered” from my peers. Of course, as teenagers who were eager to spread their wings and experience all that the world had to offer, few things were worse than the thought of being sheltered. Yet the longer I live and the older I get, “shelter” strikes me as one of the most beautiful and moving pictures of life as it is meant to be lived.
Shelter is not a restraint to be avoided but is a gift to be received.
Our world is fraught with danger and disorder, countless forms of evil that threaten to steal our joy and unmake us from within and without. We can so easily wander aimlessly through this life, exposed to the harsh elements that beat us down and wear us out. Thus, it is for good reason that one of the most consistent images in the Bible is that of the Lord as a shelter in the midst of the storm. “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1). “The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble” (Nahum 1:7). “He will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock” (Psalm 27:5). “You have been a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat” (Isaiah 25:4).
As much as my teenage self may have pushed against it, it is a profound gift to have a place of shelter and for safe refuge to become a normative part of your life. Sometimes, this shelter is given to you and provided by others, such as parents who provide shelter for their children. Yet, with the freedom that comes with adulthood, shelter is both a gift and a decision, an act of the will.
The Lord creates spaces of peace and centers of refuge, yet he does not force us to make our homes within the shelter of his wing. To borrow the language of Proverbs 16, we walk upon the highway of life, and with each step, a decision must be made: will we number ourselves amongst the upright and avoid evil? Will we guard our way and stay on the path that leads to life? In the name of “independence,” we are always free to stray to the left or right, yet today, we are reminded that the Lord offers shelter to all who, in repentance and humility, walk upon the narrow way and find their home in him.
Prayer
Father, thank you for the shelter and peace we find in you. Keep us on the narrow way and give us the strength to walk with you for all our days, we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Application
Meditate today on the goodness and gift of leading a sheltered life.
Related Reading
Proverbs 4:25-27; Isaiah 30:21; Matthew 7:13-14
Worship Resource
Steffany Gretzinger: The Narrow Way
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