Psalm 91 ~ the shelter of the Most High

Psalm 91

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will saya to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”

3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
5 You will not fear the terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only look with your eyes
and see the recompense of the wicked.

9 Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place—
the Most High, who is my refugeb—
10 no evil shall be allowed to befall you,
no plague come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
12 On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the adder;
the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.

14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
I will protect him, because he knows my name.
15 When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”

We all have anxieties and we all answer our anxieties differently.

This week my mirror broke off my windshield. This felt like a lot of difficulty. When I had my windshield replaced - a year ago - the place told me they were amazingly out of glue and hoped it would last. I said, "Ok."

Well the day the mirror broke, I was feeling anxious about my husband's health. He had been telling me various complaints and I was listening and he said, "Sorry, I don't feel well and I am making plans for my day and you deal with the windshield repair people - do what you can." This was bad news on an anxiety day because this place is deep in the city and is a pretty good distance. God is good and my son Alexander, studying for his Master's Degree, said he would ride a long. But the whole way down there on highways jammed with people - was a day of, "What will I do?" I was scarcely grateful. Just couldn't get there. 

I finally felt a little calmer on the way home. Picturing Psalm 131, hold on to Jesus. I was vastly cheered, almost in a memory, of Jesus kissing me on the forehead saying, "It's ok, Jesus is not going anywhere; you are ok. Calm down."

The week went by and I remembered - oh man - I have to return down there and put on the second half of the mirror repair. Ok, ok, fine.




And we returned, Edward again said he was tired, Alexander and I climbed in the car and went on a tour of the city to get back to the affordable windshield place. Getting lost has it's perks, you learn more about the 4th largest city in the USA. This time this was easy breezy, even in spite of being lost. Rain. No problem. Chatting happily along when last time I was quiet, brooding and inward focused. Hope, Faith and Love - we all need a larger slices.



We arrived. No problem, we were remembered, and told, "Sure about 15 minutes." About 3 days later than expected, but hey.


And sitting with us, in the waiting room, was a woman who was very animated. She moved all her arms when she talked. She had red, yellow and orange hair. Nicely combed, recently colored. This is art on her. She was on the phone, talking about her accident and the cost and the time and her work. And her arms went all the way up. And who did this. And where it happened on I-45. And the cost.

She got off the phone, and explained she works very hard at a Texaco station and began to explain her job to us. She and Alexander were visiting. And she said, "You have to see this." She got a call and she is back to explaining her situation again to the caller. Off the phone. And she said "Look at this monster that fell off an 18 wheeler bounced twice and came over 3 lanes and hit me. It has a point! It's sitting in my car and I left it there to show people. I took it in the house and it weighed 60 POUNDS! Look at it!!!"

She is explaining her pay check, her lack of restitution. Her time lost, the glass continuing to fall on her. And she hands us her phone (what would we do without them?).

I have spent time thinking - this is a very animated, people savvy, busy and busy, busy young woman.

"OH - and not only is this thing with a point on it. It has landed smack in the center of the windshield and under the mirror. If it had come to the right, it could have sent me to the hospital, or killed me."

"Can you believe that! Smack in the center. Oh! And no one knows why it stopped in the glass. I was going at least 60 mph when this thing smacked me."

She veered off topic before we could reply. And changed to her job, the details, the time off, the conflict over the repair. How much her pay check was. The nick in the chrome of the windshield - not repairable - but ok. Her phone buzzing.

And then we got to see the photo:

 
(This is not the photo - this is pretty well identical - her part was mechanical gear - a drum feel off and shattered making this exact shape. 60 lbs of metal.)



She had very high interest in her conflict and was upset. Not so, truthfully, in what we'd say. She was pretty upset.

I waited until I had her eye. I said distinctly, "LIVE ANOTHER DAY."

She said, "Wow, ain't that the truth." And went on with the story that was extremely amazing.

I said, "Why did it stop?"

She said, "No one knows."

I said, "Look at this. It is the exact shape of a spear head. A weapon. It's HU-G-E."

She completely stopped. She put down the phone, to her side. Her head lifted and her chin jutted out.

She became silent and sat down.

We were all silent and Muhammad Ali's funeral was on TV. After a few minutes, we talked about the footage of young Ali, as I remembered him. as I was a child. Our friend was quiet. I knew this was her time. I knew it was her time to process. She was in some shock. She said - nice talking to you both - and left.

For almost 4 years, I was fortunate to receive training of of Witnessing about God. I knew this was God talking and not me. There is a time to speak and a time to be quiet. Ecclesiastes 3. I said a prayer and put this in God's hands. I have seen when to speak and when to rest.





Soon another young woman came in, nodded, and sat down. The TV proclaimed Ali as a Father and I knew what was next. I said, "Alexander, God wants that young woman alive. She has survived something very unusual and not even her car had a scratch, just a 60 lb. spear through the middle of her windshield, and her speed was 60 mph. This is not counting the speed of the metal spear."

Alexander nodded and his mouth fell open. The young woman stopped. I said this is a Plan of God. We witnessed this today.

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.









We all sat in companionable silence. Then we listened to the family remembering Muhammad Ali. I felt we were seeing not a passing of a celebrity athlete, but a man with faith in God. Passing A Torch to the Nation. The endurance of a man with illness. His strong belief in seeing the good - over his illness, over circumstance. A Very Real Chapter in the United States of America.

Seeing a man face many changes in life through his life. With Faith, Courage, Determination. Overcoming through all his decades. He did not waiver.

We got up and I felt like we had seen a State Funeral we all should remember.

Psalm 30
I will extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up,
And have not let my foes rejoice over me.

Romans 12:2
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Juan's Auto Glass. 6111 N. Shepherd. Houston, TX  77091


Feeling blessed, we walked to pick up the car. The man fixing the windshield told me, "Ma'am, the mirror repair is on us. We did the work, we stand by our work." Makes you Proud of the Nation. Life is a struggle now. People seek God. We all have a Story to Tell.


We are all valuable to a Loving God.  He sees a troubled creation as still worthy of Salvation from the unblemished Lamb. Jesus.  Savior to the World. Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow - Jesus is seeing the Good.


Psalm 34
Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.

1 Timothy 4:4
For every creation of God is good.









The add oil light came on. I felt so assured of God. Comforted. Held. We sat and I calmly called the Mechanic in Willis, Texas. James - the young man who just loves cars. European Auto. This young man has seen us on the fly. And he has tweaked a this and that with a smile. How assuring it is to have a place where you know the car is cared for by someone with integrity. He told me what weight oil to get and said it would be an easy fix, but if I needed the help, he'd help. I said, with a laugh, no he'd explained what was needed.

So we stopped at the store where it was like going back in time. We got help to find the right oil. And next door is an Academy that has moved up in the world to have a new store. Creating a large empty store. And the liquor store thought about it and thought about it, and has taken up the vast space.

Edward had been unusually considering vodka this week. We have about 5 drinks a month. But we discuss recipes. We had discussed the up and coming new liquor store. And here Alexander and I were. I went in and there were vast supplies of unusual soft drinks, cheeses, an aisle of Texas wines. Even a Champagne I bought called, "One Hope."

In the midst of this store, I remembered, Jesus loved Vineyards. He talked about them 21 times. God saw the good in a vineyard. The Beauty!

Ecclesiastes 9:10
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might

Romans 12:11
Do not let your zeal subside; keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.

Colossians 3:23
Whatever you do, work at it with your whole being, for the Lord and not for men

The world's oldest wine cellar was discovered in Israel in 2013.

There is a reason why Jesus felt He would discuss Vineyards.

Life presents us a world very similar to the First and Second Century A.D. Jesus never presented Himself as someone 'too all that', to not have LIFE. The primary reason Jesus told us about the Temptation of Jesus for 40 days - is to say this - we all will have real life. To be tempted and have thoughts - this is ok. Jesus was saying just because we have opinions, and attitudes we would all rather have privately - Jesus is saying - Overcome. Be real. Be in Life. Admit like Jesus - temptations come.


Life has odd humor and comedians. Brilliant music with off lyrics. Jesus told us to be in life.

We dwell making a life and a soul to present to Jesus. Doing our best. We want the Shelter of the Most High. We want Jesus to say, "Well done." To hear "Beloved, Child."


Stay Pearly, my friends.



Father God,

You are Life. In You - we move, live and have our being. Live. Stand fast in the Lord.

Thanksgiving - we want to return this to God.

Joy that we feel for Jesus' sake before our God.

So, we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see Jesus face to face and supply what is lacking in our faith.

Now may You - our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus - direct our way in You.

May the Lord make us increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as Father God does for us.So that He may establish our hearts, for the people we love and pray for. In Jesus Christ, blameless, the Cross has made us flawless, in His holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints. For our Nation, in God we Trust.

Let our Amen and our Hope, Faith and Love, be in Jesus the Lord.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves!  †