In the shelter of the Most High

Sunday morning in church we were looking at Luke chapter one and my attention was drawn to verse 35.  The angel said to Mary, “the power of the Most High will overshadow you.”1

This phrase brings us to Psalm 91 verse 1: “Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. “

If we go on and read the entire Psalm.  We have some serious food for thought regarding the present situation we are in regarding COVID.

“For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease” (v. 3).

“Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness” (v. 6).

“No plague will come near your home” (v. 10).

“The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me” (v. 14).

There are many other promises in this powerful Psalm but the one regarding disease and plague stands out. These promises are contingent on sheltering in the shadow of the Almighty.

So does this mean no true believers in the Almighty will get COVID?  We know this is not true.  Many believers have contracted COVID and been healed—100% recovery rate.  Some recovered on this planet in this time and space and others are now experiencing the ultimate recovery and healing—instant healing—in eternity.  In thinking of a friend with COVID, he will be healed; it is a confirmed fact, one way or the other he will be healed. The Almighty has said so—Psalm 91 ends with the final and ultimate shelter: “and give them my salvation”.

So what does it mean to shelter in the shadow of the Almighty? To me sheltering in the shadow of the Almighty means being always conscious of God’s presence and “shadow” around me.  He is always there and by faith, I see His shadow.  He has said, “I will never live you nor forsake you.”

Isaiah put it this way, “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You! Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God in the eternal Rock” (Is. 26:3-4).

To abide in the shadow of the Almighty means to have our heart, minds, and faith fixed, fastened securely to the promises of the Almighty.  Not fixed ultimately on medical science, our insurance policy, the government, our diet and health regiment, a vaccine,  but fixed on the Almighty.

My prayer for all of us this season will be that we are sheltering under the Almighty—not mainly sheltering in place but under the shadow of the Almighty.

1 Using the New Living Translation for all of this.

 

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About David Searcy

I was born in 1950 in Vinita Oklahoma. My parents originally wanted to go to China in 1948 but ended up working with small churches and youth in poor rural, post-depression, post dust bowl, Appalachia. I grew up in farming communities and working on farms and ranches. I actually chopped and picked cotton by hand and started learning to use a mule and double shovel. I left home for a Christian boarding school when 13 and never lived long term at home again. I worked summers away from home. After HS graduation I went to Dallas Bible College for a year. Then, because of a girlfriend, I went to Wichita State in Kansas to pursue a geology career. In the spring of '70 I broke up with the girl about a month before the wedding. That summer I went to work for a house painter, just to have a job. I did not know a lot about him, other than he was from a church I went to. He was a Godly man and began to question my future. I did not want to serve the Lord, because of the poverty factor, I had seen too much of that growing up. But one day that summer, I realized that what is visible in this world is not eternal—it is all going to burn. So I applied to New Tribes Mission at the first opportunity. In Aug. '70, I went to New Tribes Bible School in Wisconsin. Immediately my decision was confirmed and, by the sovereignty of God, I met Teresa from OH. We were married in June of '71. We completed the 2 phases (3yrs) of missions training and had 2 babies and by '74 were preparing to leave for Indonesia. We arrived in Indonesia in Aug. of '75 and started Indonesian language study. Our 3rd child was born that December. In Aug. of '76 we moved to the Upper Kapuas region and began living with a tribe of forest nomads—Arino Hobongan. It was a long process to learn the unwritten language, culture, and then teach nomadic people. We became nomads ourselves. People were taught and by the early '80s there was a growing church. Then from 1985 - 2000 the Indonesian Government quit granting missionary visas. If we already had a visa we could stay, even though tenuous. So by the early '90s, we were the only missionaries left in the Upper Kapuas region, which had originally had 11 missionary units in 4 tribal groups. We found ourselves alone with baby churches. So from '91 until we retired in 2016 our focus was disciplining and networking churches from these 4 language groups: Punan-Hobongan, Taman, Daqan, and Embaloh. For many years we lived in 3 locations, then in '05 focused more on Nanga Bungan and teaming with our daughter Rachel to complete the Punan translation of the New Testament. Then when our son DJ and his family joined Rachel in '08 we moved close to the frontier town of Putussibau to establish a mission home and base for outreach into more tribal groups. I still make trips back to visit our "family" in Indonesia—both biological and spiritual. I hope to go again as soon as the COVID passes.

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