“ Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be over-past.”
Psalm 57:7
If Apostle Paul in his days warned about evil days then this warning could not have been more important presently as we increasingly witness the turmoil of our world.
However a wise man would pay more attention to the wisdom of abiding with God in the evil days than to the news of the evil days alone. Apostle did not only mention that the days are evil he went further to instruct us on how to walk securely in the evil day.
He was precise about what to do with our time: to walk wisely, to use our time wisely, to make the best use of every opportunity given to us by God, to understand the will of the Lord, and be filled with the Holy Spirit. ( Ephesians 5:15-18).
I consider this advice from Apostle to be very crucial to abiding in God and making Him our refuge in these evil days. It should form a core part of our practical manual of making God our refuge beyond just reciting popular verses in Psalm 91 that talks to divine refuge in these evil days.
In our present time two factors that consistently steal our precious time of deepening our refuge in God are our work and entertainment. As essential as these things are they are presently out of balance in the lives of many Christians. These have to be brought into constant checked to maintain a healthy balance in our walk with God.
What are the other practical things we could do to make our refuge in God stands solid and sure ?
Meditate and always be mindful of the word of God and his promises. Soak it in your heart and obey it, and not just recite it. To be mindful of the word of God is to be aware of his promises and to meditate on them.
Learn to confide in God in your prayers by confessing even your fears and anxieties. The Psalmist would often do this but would also often go further to reassure his mind about God’s unfailing promises.
But how can we follow the Psalmist’s script if we do not know or meditate on the promise of God for this hour concerning us? If we don’t, our mind will not be able to go from anxiety to confidence during prayers.
Know the Character of God, that He is God who controls times and events. He is therefore in control and he will always make a way for his children in turbulent times.
One of the reasons why men magnify the evil days more than the power of God is because men are more carried away by visible events than the invisible God the author of events. We quickly allow events to move us into anxious thoughts and questions.
When the disciples gathered to Jesus after His resurrection all they wanted to know was an explanation of God’s timing for the restoration of the Kingdom to Israel.
Jesus’ response is still very much instructive to those who seek refuge in the Lord today; beyond just piling up the knowledge of events relating to the end time rather seek the power of the Holy Ghost to survive the evil days.
Jesus told the inquisitive disciples: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you”. (Acts 1: 7-8).
Jesus knew that the power of the Holy Spirit would do more for them to survive the evil days than amassing knowledge about times and seasons. We did see in the book of Acts how the Power of God made things happen for them much more than their knowledge of events.
As we pray continually for the power of the Holy Spirit we would realize that increasingly our reaction to events would be controlled by a quiet confidence in God as expressed in Psalm 46:1 and we will not be giving to panicking which is a manifestation of a life without the assurance of God, a life driven by the flesh. (We should know that the flesh is the enemy of all that is of faith).
The Psalmist, in Psalm 46 attained this quiet confidence in God when he wrote in verse 1-2.
Beloved let us also be like minded receiving our assurance and confidence in the promises of God. In doing so we will abide confidently in God as our refuge and we will be given less and less to running without direction, driven by fear while still claiming to be under the refuge of His power.
Reading
Psalms 91 and
