It's good to think more deeply about the mercies of God in times of crisis. To help guide us in this effort, we'll consider Paul David Tripp's collection of meditations from Psalm 27 called "A Shelter in the Time of Storm." You can get your own copy on Amazon here.

For he will hide me in his shelter
in the day of trouble.

Psalm 27:5

One of the most helpful things to me about these meditations has been that Tripp does not sugar-coat the Christian life at all. You can tell that he was in the midst of a great trial when he wrote this book and, because of that, it's a great fit for me in the midst of this current trial. I'm not safe because life is safe - it is not and cannot be. If I am ever safe, it must be for another, better, reason. 

This meditation is a poem called "Safe." 

I am safe,
not because I have no
trouble,
or because I never experience
danger.
I am safe,
not because people affirm
me,
or my plans always
work out.
I am safe,
not because I am immune from
disease,
or free of the potential for
poverty.
I am safe
not because I am protected from
disappointment,
or separated from this
fallen world.
I am safe,
not because I am
wise
or strong.
I am safe,
not because I deserve
comfort or have earned my
ease.
I am safe,
not because of
money
or power,
or position,
or intellect,
or who I know,
or where I live.
I am safe because of the glorious mystery of
grace.
I am safe because of the presence of
boundless love.
I am safe because of
divine mercy,
divine wisdom,
divine power,
divine grace.
I am safe,
not because I never face
danger,
but because you are
with me in it.
You have not given me
a ticket out of danger.
You have not promised me
a life of ease.
You have chosen to place me in
a fallen world.
I am safe
because you have given me
the one thing
that is the
only thing
that will ever keep me safe.
You have given me
You.
I am safe
from my evil heart
and this shattered world,
not because I can escape
them both,
but because in the middle of
temptation and trial,
danger and disappointment
sickness and want,
You give me everything
I need to
fight temptation
and avoid defeat
and to point others
to the safety
that can only be found
in You.
So, I will wake up tomorrow
and face the anxiety
of not knowing,
the fear of my own weakness,
and the reality of the fall.
I will live with
faith,
courage,
perseverance,
and hope.
And when danger comes,
and it will,
I will whisper to
my weakening heart,
"Emmanuel is your shelter,
You are safe."

Questions to Consider

The questions are Tripp's. I included my answers in case they're helpful to read.

1. Where in your life is God exposing the inadequacy and unreliability of the places to which you have looked for safety? 

- COVID has been really unique in that those places were simply taken away. I can't choose plans B, C, D (etc.) because there are no options. I can trust God alone, or I can live in total fear. All the other "creative" solutions I tend to rely on have been taken away. The choice for me is quite binary. 

2. Humbly consider if there is a person or thing that you would rather have in your life than the security the Lord has promised you in his care.

- Yikes. Do I have to?