Protection and blessing

Each man will be like a shelter form the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.                                                                   Isa. 32.2

This verse refers to the Lord’s redeemed. Those who come to God in full surrender will know the power of God, sensing it in them and seeing it work through them.

Reflecting the Lord Himself, the redeemed will provide sources of protection and blessing.

The examples given – shelter from the wind, refuge from the storm, streams in the desert, and a great rock shading a thirsty land – are so apt for the people this word was originally addressed to.

I have experienced Israel in the middle of a hot and dusty summer. When the blazing wind blows, shelter is the sweetest relief. I can imagine the fury of a storm on the Sea of Galilee. In the open country, the foothills of Judea and the wilderness of the Negev, I know just how welcome streams of water would be or the inviting shelter of a great rock in the blistering heat.

All of these bring the most exquisite relief to the needy. Such are the Lord’s redeemed to the lost and the hurting. What a wonderful thing it is to come into relationship with Almighty God, to be prepared by Him, and then to be used in protection and blessing to the needy. 

Lord God,

I thank You for this verse. I claim it for myself. I ask You to use me in reaching out to the lost. May I be both protection and blessing to them.

Show me those who need shelter from the wind, refuge from the storm, or drink or shade as they struggle and thirst. Use me to show them Your love. Empower me to touch them, to bless them and to lead them to You.

I receive Your affirmation that I will be a source of protection and blessing to many.

I thank You.          Amen.