Dr. David Jeremiah - Shelter in God: Your Refuge in Times of Trouble

Shelter in God

2020 David P. Jeremiah

Some material is adapted from When Your World Falls Apart, previously titled A Bend in the Road.

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2020936907

ISBN 978-0-7852-4122-5

Epub Edition May 2020 9780785241249

Printed in the United States of America

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To all the doctors, nurses, and health care professionals:

Thank you for putting your lives on the line

to help shelter us from this pandemic.

Contents

As we move through this pandemic and begin to think of its impact and effect, many people are asking what is going to happen now. Some are predicting the worst. The world will never be the same, they say. Well never go back to normal. The pessimism about the impact of this pandemic is almost as bad as the pandemic itself. So what do you say to those who predict such a dire post-pandemic life?

I am not a prophet nor the son of a prophetalthough I do have a prophets name. I cannot tell you all that God is going to do with this time of sheltering. But I can tell you what God has done during and after times of sheltering in the past. And once you review the truth of history as I have described it below, I think you will know what He is going to do this time.

God sheltered Noah and his family for one year in the ark until Noah emerged to become the father of all the nations of the world.

God sheltered Jacob in the home of his uncle Laban when he needed to escape the wrath of Esau, his brother. Twenty years later, Jacob emerged with a new family, new wealth, and a new identity. He became Israel, the new name for Gods chosen people.

God sheltered Joseph from his seventeenth year to his thirtieth, but his slavery and prison became the school where God prepared him for greatness.

God sheltered Moses in a remote desert for forty years, but Moses came forth to liberate the Jewish people from Egypt.

God sheltered Naomi in the barren land of Moab until she nearly became bitter. But she and her daughter-in-law, Ruth, traveled to Bethlehem to participate in one of the greatest love stories of history.

God sheltered David for fifteen years after hed been anointed king of Israel. When David finally assumed the throne, he was a man after Gods own heart and gave us many of the Psalms.

God sheltered Elijah by the brook Cherith, and after the sheltering, He stood alone against the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel.

God sheltered Jonah for three days and three nights in the belly of a whale. When the sheltering was over, Jonah went to Nineveh and preached historys greatest revival.

God sheltered Daniel for seventy years in Babylon, where he wrote his Old Testament book outlining the future of Gods dealings with His people.

God sheltered Esther while in the palace of Persias king, and she saved her people from destruction.

God sheltered the disciples in the Upper Room for ten days until the Holy Spirit descended in dramatic fashion to form and fashion the church.

God sheltered Paul in the Arabian desert for three years, and when he emerged from his solitude, he turned the world upside down.

God later sheltered Paul in a Roman prison. By the time the apostle was free, he had written the prison epistles: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon.

God sheltered the apostle John on the Isle of Patmos, and the book of Revelation, the greatest prophetic document of all time, was given to him.

Lastly, and most incredibly, God sheltered Jesus in a tomb for three days, and on the third day Jesus came forth in power to bring salvation to the world.

I dont know all the details about what God is going to do. But what I do know is what He has done! And that is what we can count on. The God who sheltered His people in biblical days wont stop now. So, come what may, I am trusting in Him.

And so can you. You can count on the sheltering God to help you no matter where youve been or where youre headed. He wants you to move through your times of trouble with supernatural grace and unexplainable hope. How exactly do you do such a thing? Read on.

You have been a refuge to the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat.

ISAIAH 25:4 NIV

Where can we go during times of trouble? One answer is Zahara de la Sierra in the Cdiz province of southern Spain.

Originally built as a castle and fortress in the Andalusian Mountains, Zahara has endured as a place of refuge and security for nearly a thousand years. The town was founded as an outpost for the Moors of the Maghreb; its location between the cities of Ronda and Seville was critical for military strategy.

While armies crisscrossed Spain during the Middle Ages, Zahara stood strong against both soldiers and siege. Opposing forces could not escape the all-seeing watchmen on top of Zaharas walls, and any attempted incursion involved a steep and harrowing climb long before any battle was joined. The castle was eventually captured in 1483 by forces under the command of the Duke of Cdiz, but not without great effort and great loss of life.

Today, Zahara de la Sierra is a picturesque village of whitewashed houses famously known as