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As for God, His way is perfect!
The word of the Lord is tested and tried;
He is a shield to all those who take refuge and put their trust in Him.
For who is God except the Lord? Or who is the Rock save our God,
The God who girds me with strength and makes my way perfect?
Psalms 18:30-32
As for God, His way is perfect;
The word of the LORD is proven;
He is a shield to all who trust in Him.
For who is God, except the LORD?
And who is a rock, except our God?
It is God who arms me with strength,
And makes my way perfect.
Psalms 18:30-32
“Mom! its not working!” “Guys, how are you doing it?” As my boys proceed to tell me how they are using the way they devised (I don’t even know how they came up with this method), I chuckle to myself, knowing that it wouldn’t work, and knowing that this was going to happen. They weren’t going to do it the way I suggested they do it because I have given birth to the most independent and stubborn boys in the world. Who knew that lining books back into a bookshelf could be so difficult?
This isn’t new, all three of my children have the “I’m going to try it my way first,” mentality when they set out to accomplish tasks. Many times the end result is less than what we all hoped for. Similar situations are seen in the daily lives of most parents, even our Heavenly Father. His children are stubborn, we like to try it our way. He tells us or shows how to do something and we turn around and do it how we see fit, and the outcome is always less than we hoped for.
Though my ways are far from perfect, my boys have learned that they may work better. But His ways are perfect, and when we follow His ways, He will shield us from the unpleasant side effects of trying our own ways first. Thankfully God is forgiving, and we get do-overs. He gives us chance after chance to do it His way. Time after time, He has shown me that His Word is proven. Time and time again He has been my Shield, my Strength, and my Rock. He has done so even when I tried my way first…when I didn’t trust Him as I should have. He was waiting for me, His arms outstretched, ready to show that His words rang true.
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Let’s Pray: Dear Heavenly Father, You know better than we do that we don’t always do things Your way, yet You love us regardless. We fight, we argue, we do things how we want to. But You are always there, arms outstretched. Always our Shield, always our Rock, always our Strength. Thank You. In Jesus name, we pray, Amen.
As for God, His way is perfect:
The Lord’s word is flawless;
He shields all who take refuge in Him.
For who is God besides the Lord?
And who is the Rock except out God?
It is God who arms with strength and keeps my way secure.
Psalms 18:30-32
Perfection. I will go ahead and say that I have tried many times to be perfect. Have I ever achieved it? No. I never will. I have flaws. I was born that way. God made me with flaws for His own reasons. I can either take advantage of those flaws to make myself better or let those flaws bring me down. God gives me the strength to get past these flaws.
If we let our flaws bring us down, we can take refuge in a God who understands us because He made us. God knew us before we born. He knit us in our mothers’ wombs; therefore, He knows every fiber of our body. This is one way He is our Rock and Shield. He knows where we need protection and a fighting way against the evil of the world. He arms us with the ways to stay strong and secure in our lives.
As Psalm 18:2 says, “The Lord is my Rock, my Fortress and my Deliverer; my God is my Rock, in Whom I take refuge, my Shield and the Horn of my salvation, my Stronghold,” God delivers me from my flaws which allow me to fall into temptation and to feel down. He arms me with the strength and tools I need through His Word—the Bible. I only have to make the choice (which I already have) to accept Jesus into my heart and to pick up the Good Book. Through this, I am armed with God’s Shield to protect myself and my loved ones from Satan, and I have a Rock to lean on in hard times.
God does not just not only makes me feel secure…He is my security. Just like a child depends on a blanket for security, God envelops us with His loving and strong arms to protect us. We can get that same security blanket feeling if we just depend on the rock that is always giving us protection and love.
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Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us the flaws that make us what we are. We can use those to make our lives our betters if we let You show us how to deal with them. You are perfect. We are not. Your perfection is what makes You our great Protector and Father. Without you, we would be lost to the world. In Jesus name, Amen.
As for God, His way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried:
He is a buckler to all those that trust in Him.
For who is God save the LORD? or Who is a Rock save our God?
It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.
Psalms 18:30–32
Faith is not faith as long as it is holding onto a branch. There is a story that goes like this:
One day on a hiking trip, a man fell off the edge of a cliff and began the 800-foot drop to the bottom. He thought it was all over for him until he grabbed a tree branch which stopped his fall. Hanging on for dear life, he cried out for help, “Is anyone up there?”
There was no response. The seconds turned into minutes. The branch was sagging beneath the hiker’s weight. The tree’s roots would only take so much more strain before they gave way. When it seemed the poor hiker couldn’t hold on any longer, he heard a voice: “I am God. Do you trust Me?”
“Yes, Lord. I trust You. Can You help me, please?”
God answered, “Yes, I will help you. Just let go of the branch.”
The hiker was silent for a moment. Then he shouted back, “Is anyone else up there?”
There is perhaps nothing more difficult than releasing our grip on a “branch” we have been trusting for life, stability, and the provision of our needs. The hardest part is not knowing how the landing will turn out. This is what happens when we practice faith, only we are leaving the outcome of our situation in God’s hands. We’re used to holding onto our relationships, jobs, homes, families, friends, bank accounts, retirement savings, and even our plans for the future. But God can’t help us until we are willing to let go of these things and completely trust Him. He knows that when we are trusting Him, we are in a place of safety. Our branches may fail us, but His hand will never let us go.
Each of us is clinging to a branch of one kind or another. Your branch might be your job, a relationship with a friend, the stock market, your health, or your home. Today God is asking you to let it go and trust Him. You might not see how the landing will turn out, but God can. He has promised to keep you safe.
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Dear Lord, we thank You for the love You have for us even when we don’t trust You. Help our unbelief. Let us trust You more and more each day, in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen!!
