Have you ever experienced a moment where it feels like darkness encroaches? I did last night. I laid awake allowing my thoughts to wonder, causing my heart to wander far from what I know to be true. It wasn’t until 3am that I realized how my thoughts led me to resurrect junk that’s already dead, buried & redeemed for better things. I prayed out loud, calling on Jesus’s name to rescue me.
Jesus reminds us that the enemy’s aim is to steal, kill & destroy, but His purpose is to give a rich & satisfying life.
I read about King Saul’s pursuit of David today. Saul wrongly believed David was out to kill him so his thoughts became fixated on killing David.
They finally end up on opposite sides of a mountain & just when Saul’s men begin to close in, an urgent message arrives calling Saul & his men to defend Israel against the attacking Phillistines.
The passage closes with a sentence that reads like neon lights:
Ever since that time, the place…has been called the Rock of Escape.
What comes to mind when you read that?
If you’re like me, maybe you thought of Jesus, our bedrock of unshakable protection & safety?
The phrase literally means the Cliff of Division. It’s the place where the heart of the king was divided, should he stay & kill David or return to save his people?
Proverbs tells us that a house divided will surely fall. When we let our thoughts wander without our Shepherd, it leaves us wide open for enemy attack.
Jesus is our good shepherd who calls us by name & we follow because we know His voice.
When a voice speaks, internal or external, that steals peace, kills joy & attempts to destroyTruth, it’s not His.
It’s not that we can’t revisit pain, but when we do so without our Shepherd, we quickly find ourselves in need of a Rock of Escape!
Father, You’ve created our minds to be complex & capable of more than we know! Sometimes, however, at least for me, it’s easy to let wonderings lead hearts into wandering far from You. Help us to hear Your voice & run from all others. Even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, You are with us! Remind us to call on Your Name when we’ve wandered far. Be to us as you were to David, our Rock of Escape.
1 SAMUEL 22:1-23:29
JOHN 10:1-21
PSALM 115:1-18
PROVERBS 15:18-19
Comments