A Resting Place

Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me, for thou art my rock and my fortress. -Psalm 71:3

The Lord gave me this scripture, actually He provided me with the entire Psalm, in a dream on 2/24/09 after several weeks of very rough and tremendous warfare. Unfortunately I was fighting against myself, but I didn't realize it at the time. When I read this text however, I was immediately comforted and reminded of the fact that I have a secret place that I can run to in God, where He will hide me from trouble and always restore me to my rightful place in Him.

So I looked up the word "resort" because it was one of the words that provided me the most comfort. I noted, as most of us already know, that it could be defined as a verb meaning "to have recourse for use, help, or accomplishing something, often as a final available option or resource"; "to go, esp. frequently or customarily" or as a noun meaning "a place to which people frequently or generally go for relaxation or pleasure, esp. one providing rest and recreation facilities for vacationers; a habitual or general going, as to a place or person; and use of or appeal to some person or thing for aid, satisfaction, service, etc."

Now I don't know about you, but as much as I think of the shadow of the Almighty as a strong tower, a fortress, and a shelter to name a few, I had honestly never made the association of His safety with a resort. A resort, like the definitions above imply, is a place of white sands, blue water, cool breezes and tropical drinks (virgin ones of course). Or, if you use it as a verb, I could maybe infer viewing God as a last or final resort, but I was thinking more of the vacation spot analogy and I just wasn't seeing it.

But as I read this text that fateful morning, it made perfect sense. God is my resort. In fact, this "resort" is what King David eluded to in Psalm 23: green meadows, still waters, unlimited food and eternal peace. It is the concept promoted and promised throughout the Bible, and yet if you're like me, you've missed it completely. God wants to be our "go-to" place and person in good times but surely in the times of struggle, heartache and despair. He desires to be our place of rest, relaxation and restoration from the battles of everyday living. And He wants us to come to His place of rejuvenation continually and customarily as the definition says, not only as a last "resort" as if we never had any other options. His resort is always open, it's always free and there is always a first-class suite waiting for us when we get there. What more could we ask for?!

So the next time the weight of the world, or just your personal issues, begin to cause your head to droop, your shoulders to buckle or your life to seem like it's spiraling out of control, schedule some time at God's resort and I promise you, you'll leave better than when you checked in!

God has a vision for you...let's find out what it is!

In Christ,
SistaV

Finding Me

This week has been one of the worst weeks of my life! I have never been so unmotivated, unfocused, depressed, lifeless, confused, lost...well, you get the point. In short, it was a bad week. But in the midst of my (self-induced) darkness, I realized God was merely attempting to get my attention. Well not merely...He knew allowing me to go through "the fire and the water" was unfortunately going to be the only way He could have my undivided attention.

These past few weeks, months, years even, I'd been so busy planning my life that I hadn't consulted Him to get His opinion, thoughts, or approval. Now don't get me wrong -- I'd been talking to Him, but that was part of the problem. I was talking TO Him but not with Him, nor was I listening to what He might have been saying and I definitely hadn't been providing Him with opportunities to lead, direct and guide me by His responses. So this week amidst tears, tissues and major temptation, I learned to wait. To be still. To listen to the still small voice that has been trying to get my attention for quite some time. And guess what? He led me here...isn't God good?

So we'll see where this journey takes us. I hope you'll join me, that you'll enjoy the process and most importantly that you'll be blessed by what is shared in this blog. Feel free to respond.

In Christ,
SistaV