I wrote this post years ago. I had to repost because the message spoke to me and maybe it will to you.
“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Psalm 91:1-2 (NIV)
Do you have a dog? Does your dog love going to the vet? That’s an absurd question. Yesterday, I took Foxy to the vet. She HATES going to the vet. She shakes from head to tail.
It starts when I put her harness on, I think she can tell because she walks away from me. Once I get her to stop walking and attempt to put it over her head she lies down on the floor, chin planted against the carpet. Finally, I slip it on, clip it under her belly, and make a few adjustments to it because she has lost some weight. The girls and I head into the garage and we open the car door, expecting Foxy to just jump into the car. No. She does not jump in! I pick her up and place her in the middle of the backseat. The girls quickly jump in and sandwich her in between them.
We arrive at the office and the shaking has begun. I run around to the back, open the door, and pull on her leash for her to jump out. Does she jump out? No. Rather she falls out and face plants on the pavement. The girls are horrified. I reach down to pet her. She shakes it off.
Once inside, we fight over the scale. Why is it that every dog does not want to stand on the scale? The tech and I get her to stay with petting and using our sweet doggie voices which I have always wondered if they really like or they just do what we say so we stop talking like that. I’m a little surprised to see she has lost 8 pounds in a year. She’s a smaller dog, so 8 pounds is a lot.
In the room, Foxy paces. We can hear two dogs crying because they are waking up from anesthesia. At this point, Foxy is beyond nervous. She positions herself between the wall and my leg, lies down, and the shaking begins to subside. I explain to the girls how she is feeling safe hiding behind me. She can relax because she is resting knowing I’m right there, touching her, hiding her.
The vet comes in and we now have to clean out her ears because she has an ear infection in both ears. Just when she thought it couldn’t get worse than having her temperature taken, the vet is squirting liquid in her ears. She is shaking again. I wrap myself around her. She calms down. Both ears look great and we give Foxy a treat.
Back in the car, she smiled her huge Foxy smile. She survived. I snapped this quick selfie.
I chose this verse today because we are like Foxy at times. Life’s storms can be fierce. It can feel as though we have no control of the circumstances around us. We get a medical diagnosis that sends us spinning. Our kids are acting out in ways we can’t understand. We lose a job. Our parent’s health is failing. We are drowning in debt. But friend, don’t lose hope. We dwell in the shelter of the Most High, we rest in the shadow of the Almighty, He is our refuge, He is our fortress, we can trust Him.
Try replacing your name in the verse.
Because Louise dwells in the shelter of the Most High, she rests in the shadow of the Almighty. Louise will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
Or try replacing your name for the pronouns of the last verse.
He is Louise’s refuge and Louise’s fortress, Louise’s God in whom Louise trusts.
It may sound awkward as English goes, but it drives home the point to our hearts. He is your refuge! He is your fortress! He is your God! and this verse reminds us to put our trust in Him.
Today, rest in Him!
