My Rock, My Refuge, My Stronghold

I love this verse.

There is something so comforting about knowing that I don't have to be strong all by myself. I don't have to have everything figured out. I don't have to know what tomorrow holds. I have a God who is my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my refuge, my shield and my stronghold.

That's a lot of protection packed into one little verse.

And honestly, I've needed every bit of it.

Life doesn't always go the way we think it will. There have been times when I've felt overwhelmed, worried, disappointed, hurt or simply tired. There have been things I've faced that I couldn't fix, situations I couldn't control and circumstances I couldn't change.

But I've learned that just because I can't handle something doesn't mean God can't.

He is my rock when I feel unsteady.

He is my fortress when I feel vulnerable.

He is my refuge when I need somewhere safe to run.

He is my shield when I need protection.

He is my deliverer when I need Him to make a way where I can't see one.

And He is my stronghold when I need something—or Someone—to hold me up.

I think sometimes we make our faith harder than it needs to be. We try to carry things God never asked us to carry. We worry about things we can't control. We try to figure out every detail of tomorrow when God is asking us to trust Him with today.

I've done that more times than I'd like to admit.

But God keeps reminding me that He is my safe place.

I can run to Him in prayer. I can pour my heart out to Him. I can cry when I need to cry. I can tell Him what I'm afraid of, what I'm struggling with and what I don't understand.

And I don't have to clean myself up first.

I can come just as I am.

That's what I love about having a relationship with God. He isn't only there when everything is going well. He is there in the middle of the mess, in the uncertainty, in the waiting and in the moments when I don't have the answers.

He has been faithful to me over and over again.

When I look back at my life, I can see His hand in places where I didn't recognize it at the time. I can see moments when He protected me, provided for me, redirected me and carried me when I didn't have the strength to carry myself.

Sometimes I didn't understand what God was doing.

I just had to trust Him.

And that's still true today.

I don't know what tomorrow will bring. I don't know what challenges are around the corner. But I know Who will be there when I get there.

That's enough for me.

My circumstances may change. People may change. Life may change. But God does not change.

He is still my Rock.

He is still my Refuge.

He is still my Fortress.

He is still my Shield.

He is still my Deliverer.

And He is still my Stronghold.

So today, I'm choosing to remind myself of what I already know:

I am not alone.
I am not without help.
I am not without hope.
And I am not without a place to run.

When life gets shaky, I can stand on the Rock.

When life gets hard, I can run to my Refuge.

When I feel afraid, I can hide in my Fortress.

When I don't know what to do, I can trust my Deliverer.

Because my security isn't found in having a perfect life or knowing exactly what the future holds.

My security is found in Him.

And He has always been—and will always be—my Rock.