{"id":19620,"date":"2014-05-12T00:20:30","date_gmt":"2014-05-12T04:20:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=19620"},"modified":"2014-05-12T01:43:14","modified_gmt":"2014-05-12T05:43:14","slug":"refuge-able-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2014\/05\/12\/refuge-able-god\/","title":{"rendered":"Refuge In An Able God"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SeekingHimLogo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I am one of those people who reads the Bible and then asks tough questions. \u00a0So, of course I had questions when I read Psalms 5:11-12.<\/p>\n

\n

But let all who take refuge in You rejoice; let them sing joyful praises forever. Spread Your protection over them, that all who love Your Name may be filled with joy. For You bless the godly, O Lord; You surround them with Your shield of love.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Do<\/em><\/strong> those who take refuge in God truly<\/em> rejoice? Do<\/strong><\/em> they find protection? Do<\/em><\/strong> they rejoice? \u00a0I found my answers in the well-known story of David and Goliath told in 1 Samuel, chapter 17.<\/p>\n

Summarized: \u00a0God’s army, led by King Saul, was up against the Philistines. Goliath proposed a one-on-one challenge to any man willing. \u00a0All of God’s army was afraid (verse 24). \u00a0David, a shepherd boy, challenged Goliath. \u00a0David defeated Goliath with a single stone.<\/p>\n

Is God able<\/em> to do as Psalms 5:11-12 says? \u00a0According to 1 Samuel 17, yes! \u00a0Let me point out some things in this story that I noticed.<\/p>\n

Saul and the army of God ran in great fear\u2014not fear of God but fear of Goliath. Lack of faith? \u00a0GOD’S ARMY ran in fear…something is not right about that. \u00a0Seeking refuge in God is a choice.<\/p>\n

When Saul heard David would go fight, even though he was an inexperienced shepherd boy, he didn’t do much to stop him. For instance, he didn’t, oh, you know, GO FIGHT INSTEAD. \u00a0No! \u00a0He told David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you.” \u00a0So, God could be with David, but not with the entire army of God? \u00a0Seeking refuge in God is for everyone who calls Him ‘Abba’\u00a0<\/em>!<\/p>\n

David’s oldest brother, along with King Saul, and Goliath, all tried to discourage David, but he didn’t believe their lies. In fact, his faith was unshakeable. \u00a0Seeking refuge in God can shield us from discouragement!<\/p>\n

I have done this to both lions and bears, and I\u2019ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too,
\nfor he has defied the armies of the living God!
\nThe Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear
\nwill rescue me from this Philistine!
\n1 Samuel 17:36-37a<\/p>\n

David had faith in an unfailing God. This is why we should choose to take refuge in our God—He said He’s got our backs and He does!<\/p>\n

\u00a0 ~ \u00a0 \u2665 \u00a0 ~\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u271e\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0 ~ \u00a0*<\/span><\/p>\n

Lord, thank You for giving me a safe place to go when I need refuge. \u00a0May I forever dwell in the safety of Your presence. \u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am one of those people who reads the Bible and then asks tough questions. \u00a0So, of course I had questions when I read Psalms 5:11-12. But let all who take refuge in You rejoice; let them sing joyful praises forever. Spread Your protection over them, that all who love Your Name may be filled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":13840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3020],"tags":[1702,3146,3367,6303,1287,425,6304,6302,3174],"class_list":["post-19620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-devotions","tag-1-samuel-17","tag-ahmee-bronaugh","tag-daily-devotions-2","tag-david-and-goliath","tag-gch","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-god-is-able","tag-psalms-511-12","tag-seeking-him-devotional","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SeekingHimLogo.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-56s","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/118"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19620"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19623,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19620\/revisions\/19623"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}