Allow God to be Your Safe Place

Allow God to be Your Safe Place

8.25.2021

The Word is the MOST important thing in your life right now!

Matthew 7:24-27 (NKJV)

Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.

God taught me a life lesson about His Word 30 years ago…

Years ago God dealt with me about taking daily time to wait in His Presence and talk to Him about my struggles.

I had a pressure time when I was 30 or so when I pioneered a church in a small SC town.

I wanted to give up. That would have been the easy way out, and God would not let me take the easy way.

He spoke very sternly to me one day as I was thinking about all my problems and seeing no way out.

He told me to GET UP! I took my Bible and went to my backyard, and as I walked under the 10 or so oak trees there, God gave me the following scriptures that really gave me hope and kept me from quitting:

Psalm 27:5 (God’s Word)

He hides me in his shelter when there is trouble. He keeps me hidden in his tent. He sets me high on a rock.

Psalm 34:19 (NKJV)

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all.

Psalm 37:39-40 (NKJV)

But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; He is their strength in the time of trouble. 40 And the LORD shall help them and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the wicked, And save them, Because they trust in Him.

Psalm 46:1 (AMPC)

God is our refuge and strength [mighty and impenetrable to temptation], a very present and well-proved help in trouble.

Psalm 50:15 (NKJV)

Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.

Psalm 86:7 (NKJV)

In the day of my trouble I will call upon You, For You will answer me.

Psalm 91:14-16 (NKJV)

Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. 15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. 16 With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation.

Romans 8:37 (AMPC)

Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us.

Bob Yandian – God had the answer before the problem! Rev. 13:8

Ask for the deliverance, and then stand in faith!

These scriptures moved me away from my thoughts to God’s thoughts about my rough place. They let me know He was watching, and was ready to help me, and that He would be with me and would help me until the storm, the hard place, ended.

Later I could see that God wanted me to keep the bigger picture in mind when I am in the hard place.

Romans 8:28 (AMPC)

We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.

Romans 8:28 (MSG)

That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.

The Father wants to take advantage of this time to develop your character!

Romans 8:18 (NLT)

Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.

Romans 8:18-21 (MSG)

That’s why I don’t think there’s any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what’s coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NLT)

That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. 17 For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! 18 So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (MSG)

So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.

Let me encourage you in life’s tough places to pour your heart out to God…

God does not want us to hold things inside. It’s unhealthy in every way.

God wants us to expose our personal pain to Him:

What you think about yourself. Personal stuff.

How people treat you.

Circumstances. Job. Business. Money.

Relationships.

Psalms 61:1-5 (NKJV)

Hear my cry, O God; attend to my prayer. 2 From the end of the earth I will cry to You,

when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. 3 For You have been a shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy. 4 I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings. 5 For You, O God, have heard my vows;

You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name.

We must learn to allow God into the inner recesses of our life.

Hebrews 4:13 (NLT)

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.

Psalms 34:17-19 (NLT)

The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles. 18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; He rescues those whose spirits are crushed. 19 The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.

Psalm 34 – Arthur S. Way

Psalms 34:4-10 (NLT)

I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears. 5 Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces. 6 In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened;He saved me from all my troubles. 7 For the angel of the Lord is a guard; He surrounds and defends all who fear him. 8 Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him! 9 Fear the Lord, you his godly people, for those who fear him will have all they need. 10 Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry, but those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing.

Psalms 139:1-18 (NLT)

O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. 2 You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. 3 You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. 4 You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. 5 You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand! 7 I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!

8 If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. 9 If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, 1) even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. 11 I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night— 12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.

To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you. 13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. 15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. 16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. 17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! 18 I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!

Psalms 90:8 (AMPC)

Our iniquities, our secret heart and its sins [which we would so like to conceal even from ourselves], You have set in the [revealing] light of Your countenance.

I have learned to pour my heart out to God and mention my stress to Him in detail.

We get so busy that we don’t do this as we should!

Isaiah 40:28-31 (NLT)

Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. 29 He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. 30 Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. 31 But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint

Action Points:

1. Take some time to pour your heart out to God in your time with Him every single day.
2. God wants us to share everything with Him. As we do, stress decreases, peace increases, and we learn to live by faith and not feelings.
3. Whatever you’re facing, don’t give up on yourself or on God. There is a bigger picture to see than the present!
4. Life does to us what life finds in us!