The fear of man lays a snare,
Proverbs 29:25
but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe
It is Christ’s desire that you “hide in Him.” What I mean is, the only way you can live the Christian life successfully is by sprawling yourself out in Christ’s arms and allowing Him to carry you. And the key word here is “allowing.”
I wrote a study book titled “Identity In Christ: Finding Freedom through the Cross and Victory through the Resurrection.” It’s available on Amazon if you’re interested. In that book, I explain how everything regarding your Christian life rests on your will. For it is your will that responds to the gospel of Salvation. And it is your will that allows the Holy Spirit to have His way in your life every day thereafter. In other words, if you are willing to place your life into Christ’s hands, then you are no longer resisting His will. This is the expression of surrender. This is also called “hiding in Christ” or taking “refuge in the LORD” or “trusting in the LORD with all your heart.”
You are aware that the days ahead will not get easier for us who belong to Christ, right? I’m not informing you of something you did not already know, am I? In the apostle Paul’s letter to Timothy, in second Timothy, Paul writes: “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived” (2 Tim 3:12-13). And “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,” (2 Tim 3:1-4).
If we already notice these things happening around us, how much more as we move into the days ahead? Of course, this should not frighten us. And why do I say that? Because Jesus did. Didn’t Jesus continually say to His disciples: “Do Not Fear!” Now consider this promise below.
“Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty … He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection” (Ps 91:1, 4).
What are those first words? Aren’t they, “Those who live (or dwell) in the shelter of the Most High …” Who or what is the Shelter of the Most High? Jesus is. And what does it mean to “live or dwell” somewhere? It means to abide, hide, seek refuge, rest, and trust in something or someone. As you “hide in Christ” He will “cover you.” Now we know from scripture that this does not necessarily mean we will not suffer. In fact, suffering, or in other words, “trials” are part of the Christian life. But we also know that God is more than able to supply us with whatever we need to “suffer well” for His glory. Those who take refuge in the LORD are provided all the power they need, and more, to fulfill their calling in this life. If it be God’s will that you suffer as a Christian, then He will “cover you” with the faith and grace needed at the time. And He will pour out upon you, peace, joy, and hope, as you rest in Christ.
Last night, while I was praying about writing this message, these verses suddenly popped into my head: “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2:11-14).
Before these verses came to mind, I was preparing to write about the current, average, American Christian living today. I want you to notice, as I have, that many of them have not moved beyond the first section of the verses above that state, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people…” Instead, they’ve become “stuck.” They stopped growing in their relationship with Christ and possibly were never taught to “hide in” Him. They were never taught that after salvation occurs it is God’s will that you surrender your entire life to Him. Therefore, these children are unable to receive a message that confronts their sin or exhorts them to grow up, or that seeks to help them put aside the flesh and live by the Spirit. They live for the quick fixes and highs of Holy Spirit encounters at conferences or retreats. They have a form of what I call “TikTok” Christianity or social media Christianity. It seeks immediate results instead of patiently following Christ. These children of God need help. They need someone to help prepare them for what’s coming in the near future. Maybe you can?
I want to encourage you today that the Lord sees you, knows you, and hears you. For the scriptures are clear “bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity” (2 Tim 2:19). And because you are His, it follows that you leave a life of sin behind and move on to maturity in the Lord, right? What I’m saying is that based on those verses above from Titus 2 explaining that salvation “trains us” to turn away from ungodliness and worldly passions, and then “teaches us” to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, that this is the effect of our salvation. This is the Holy Spirit’s work being worked out in our character as we hide in Christ through submitting our wills to His. Now I really want you to notice what comes next. It’s basically saying that our strength, motivation, and endurance resonate from our “perspective.” Where are we to be looking? Upward. We are to be waiting for the appearing of Jesus Christ, our hope and Savior, who will remove us from this planet. And because of this, we take joy in doing the good works he’s prepared for us down here as His representatives since we belong to Him, and want to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” When He returns.
If you know anyone who would benefit from this message, I pray you’ll pass it along.
Aletheia: Truth in the Darkness 