Listen

You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in distress, a hiding place from the storm, a shade from the heat. When the breath of tyrants is like a winter storm or like heat in the desert, you subdue the roar of foreigners. Like heat shaded by a cloud, the tyrants’ song falls silent.

Isaiah 25:4-5

Think

Our verses today remind us that we can trust in God because of what God has done in the past. They also show us a God who has been for the Hebrew people a God of contrasts—God is shade in the overwhelming heat; God is a shelter from storms; God is sustenance for the needy.

Our storms from which we need shelter might be worry, bullying, or trouble at home. Our heat from which we need shade may be exhaustion, burnout, or feeling overwhelmed by the pressures of life. The noise we need silenced may be the critical voices of others or the voices in our own heads telling us we’re not good enough. Whatever the storms, the heat, the noise, we can take comfort in a God who has been, who is, and who will continue to be our shelter, our shade, and that one voice telling us we are loved.

Chuck Powell

Question to Ponder:

Can you recall a time when God was your refuge or your shelter from a storm or when God provided what you needed?

Pray

Thank you, God, for being a shelter in the storms of life, a shade in the heat, and a voice reminding me I am loved. Amen.

Go

Go, always remembering what our faithful God has done.