“Taking Refuge” is September 18’s entry from Dr. David Jeremiah’s ‘Turning Points with God: 365 Daily Devotions’.
"The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms." Deuteronomy 33:27
John Elliott had trekked many miles through the deep snows of the mountain passes of the Rockies in southwestern Alberta, Canada. As dusk and exhaustion overcame him, he decided to rest. He made it wearily to his cabin but was so tired that it didn’t cross his mind to light a fire or put on warm clothes. Outside, the blizzard continued to thrash the old cabin walls, but Elliott fell silent, paralyzed by the lure of sweet sleep.
Suddenly his dog, a St. Bernard, sprang into action and, with unrelenting whines, finally managed to rouse his near-comatose master. “If that dog hadn’t been with me, I’d be dead today,” Elliott said later. “When you’re freezing to death, you actually feel warm all over and don’t wake up because it feels too good.”
This moving story illustrates the spiritual condition of many people today. They are cold spiritually and oblivious of their true condition. But God is close by to arouse such sleepers. He sends messengers to nudge them awake. If you’re feeling sleepy, don’t ignore God’s prodding. Instead, thank Him for His loving disturbances which will save you from an eternal death.
To end, a quote from H.C. Trumbull, “Conscience tells us that we ought to do right, but it does not tell us what right is that we are taught by God’s word.”
