Tiny Devotional for Saturday, 10-30-2021

 A great good afternoon to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, leftover pizza = MAGNIFICENCE!

Every word of God is pure;
He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.
Proverbs 30:5, NASB

I'm Scottish; do I need a shield? 

In the army, they taught me ways to keep from getting shot:

  • Concealment: they can’t see me, even if they know I’m there. 
  • Camouflage: they can see me, but I look like something they don’t want to shoot.. 
  • Cover: they can’t hit me, even if they shoot. 
    • A shield provides cover, keeping you from being shot.

Today, nobody is shooting at me; that doesn’t mean I’m immune to attack. Neither are you. But, since it’s not bullets, what form do the attacks take? What kind of defense is appropriate?

  • When I was under attack at my job, concealment and camouflage would have been the right tactics. Just stay low profile, pretend to cooperate, avoid hassle. I didn’t do that, of course.
  • When I was unemployed and broke, with creditors calling demanding their money RIGHT NOW, I DID use concealment by not answering the phone, and camouflage when I did answer by saying “Operator, this line is not secure!” Worked okay, for as long as I needed it to. 

I eventually realized those weren’t REALLY attacks; they were just events. The attacks were what I BELIEVED about the events: that my life was over; that I was useless; that I WAS a failure.

For those attacks, there was no concealment, no camouflage. I needed cover; I needed a shield. And, as many others have before and since,  I found my refuge in the quiet presence of God. 

(And that’s not the end.)

Peace be on your household.

Comments

  1. E POctober 30, 2021 at 7:27 PM

    More than a little I had to unpack and reread (Eph 6, in large part) before I could post a “Thank you”. Every reminder for this fool to “stand firm” and keep my shield “in all circumstances” (ESV) is important.

    ReplyDelete

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