Wednesday, October 26, 2016
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When you drive into Missouri and Arkansas, you are entering cave country. And the tourist signs prove it...believe me. You could spend an entire vacation just touring all the caverns, using your imagination to see how that stalagmite looks like Snoopy or an Indian chief. As we were roaring down the Interstate one very chilly day, we saw this sign that said, "Fantastic Caverns – a warm 60 degrees." In winter, 60 sounds pretty warm. In summer, 60 sounds pretty cool. So, seasons change and the temperatures change, the cave never does.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "All-Season Comfort."
You have a place like that to go where the climate never changes no matter how the seasons of your life change. David knew that place. He found it when King Saul wanted him dead and chased him across the countryside to kill him. Now delivered by God, David writes about the all-season comfort he has found.
It's in our word for today from the Word of God in Psalm 18:1-2. "I love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, in whom I take refuge." Notice, a rock which never moves, never changes. "The Lord is my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield...my stronghold." David is just like thinking up every analogy he can to try to describe what stability, what safety, what comfort he has found in his relationship with his Lord, no matter how cold or hot the weather of his life may have been.
Just like that cave where you can always depend on the climate, the Lord you belong to, if you know Christ, is always your dependable place. You know how quickly the seasons of your life can change. Maybe there's someone you thought was your refuge just isn't there for you anymore, or a place or position you thought would always be there and it changed.
It could be that your body is letting you down, or your family, or your co-workers. Maybe your church, maybe your spiritual leader has let you down. Life really is like the weather – if you don't like it, hang on, it'll change soon. If you do like it, it will change eventually, too. But your anchor relationship will never, never change.
So run to your Jesus when sin is strong, when no one can help, when you're wounded and bleeding. Run to Him when you're angry, when you're very afraid, when the burden is just unbearable, or when the need is un-meetable. Sometimes we're hesitant to run to the Lord when we're feeling or acting ugly. In fact, we feel like running from Him. But that's when we need Him most, and His arms are open to you, no matter what. The cross proves that.
What a Savior we have! You will never hit a season – including the valley of the shadow of death – where your Lord will not be enough. Like those caverns, He is your place to cool off when you're hot. He is your place to get warm when it's cold.
I still remember the night my now grown son was just a little boy snuggling in my lap, his nose buried in my chest. After a few minutes, I heard his little voice say, "Daddy, when I'm in your arms, I feel so safe." For you – for me – the arms of Jesus are that always safe place. No matter what the season, His love and His power never, never change.