Episode #182 What It Means To Be Safe In God’s Shadow (and How to Get There) – Heartbreak / Give Your Heart a Break

Hey friends, it's Jen, and thank you for spending these few minutes with me here today. I'm so grateful to get to spend this time with you as we come near to God together. We're kind of alternating in this series between bringing him our heartbreak and giving our hearts a break from the heavy things and sharing moments and experiences with God that bring reprieve and rest and delight.

Today's episode is one of the ones where we're bringing him some of the heavy things and we're receiving the comfort that he offers us. I'm going to start us off by reading a passage of scripture from Psalm 91. It's verses one through four, and I'm reading it in the New Living Translation. It says:

“Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease.

He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection.” (Psalm 91:1-4 NLT)

I don't know about you, but I don't typically picture God with feathers.

But in reading this psalm, that part of verse four really stuck out to me and it reminded me of something that Jesus says in the Gospels.

"How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.” (Matthew 23:37b)

I've been thinking about this as I navigate my own areas of grief and loss and heartache.

And I've been thinking about this for us, as I share this series with you here on the podcast and how God longs to gather us under his wings. That visual of a mama hen gathering her chicks cozy and close safe and fully covered, protected that she is going to care for them. And how Jesus says to his people in Jerusalem, I would have loved to do this for you, but you wouldn't let me. And how the Psalm says that we who live in the shelter of the most high find rest in his shadow. That he alone is our refuge and our safety. That He is our God and we can trust Him.

I don't know what you're going through today, and I in no way want to minimize the pain or the processing or the healing that is involved. In fact, I want to highlight that in this opportunity that we have to draw near to God. That we can come to Him, and we can allow Him to draw us close.

That we can choose to enter into His refuge.

To trust Him.

And to experience the safety that he provides.

That his faithful promises could be our armor and our protection.

And so the question that I have to offer us today comes in two parts. The first one is talking with God about ways that is hard for us. You might already know, God, it's hard for me to trust you because of this thing. God, it's hard for me to come near to you because of this. God, I know that it's hard for me to receive you as my refuge.

And I encourage you not to stop there, but to ask God more questions. To ask him, God, why is it hard for me to receive you this way? What more do you want to show me about these difficulties? What's your perspective about it?

So that's the first part of our question. And then the second is to hear from God directly how he wants to comfort us. You've already heard that from him directly through his word right now. And he will always say things to us that line up with his word. But I wonder what more he wants to tell you about this. I wonder what words or visuals or circumstances relate to you personally that God wants to talk with you about.

And so part two of our question is asking him. God, how do you want to draw me close? How can I experience your comfort that way?

And then respond to him with whatever he shows you. Receive that comfort from him. Ask him to show up in that way. If that still feels hard, tell him, God, that still feels hard, but I want you to do that. Will you help me receive you in this way. Let our good God draw you close like a mama hen who cares for her chicks. And as you do so, keep engaging in this conversation with him.

And so to recap.

God, why is it hard for me to receive you this way? And God, will you show me how you want to draw me close and comfort me?

Have a good talk.

And if you've been encouraged by this content, please share it with a friend and help them grow in their conversational relationship with God too!

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