8-10 "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God."
Hebrews 11:8-10 (NIV)
“The Rule of Threes” states that under extreme conditions a person can only last three hours without proper shelter.
We are, after all, warm-blooded creatures with little ability to protect ourselves from extremes of cold and heat. We are more delicate than we realize, and the effects of water, wind and all manner of weird, crawling and creeping critters can harm us quickly.
Psalm 18:2, “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”
Psalm 27:5, “For He will hide me in His shelter in the day of trouble; He will conceal me under the cover of His tent; He will lift me high upon a rock.”
God is meant to be our shelter, our spiritual hiding place from the elements of this world. He is where we are to pitch our tents.
Some powerful descriptive words from these Psalms bolster my confidence in Him as my all-weather tent; He is my … rock, fortress, deliverer, refuge, shield, salvation, stronghold, shelter, concealer, cover and lifter.
As any realtor will tell you, “Location, location, location.” A desirable location is always the key to any house hunt, or in our case, tent hunt. So if we are to place our tents in God, and He is omnipresent (everywhere), then where exactly is the ideal location to pitch our survival tents?
I believe that the ideal location to place our shelter is in the center of God’s will. And the GPS to help us locate the center of God’s will is found in Luke 10:27.
When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment is, He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
We will be sheltered in the center of God’s will if we seek to live out the greatest commandment:
- Love Him with all of our hearts – by wholeheartedly serving Him (Ephesians 6:7).
- Love Him with all of our souls – by faith (Hebrew 11:6).
- Love Him with all of our strength – by using our earthly bodies to glorify Him (Romans 12:1).
- Love Him with all of our minds – by being renewed and transformed (Romans 12:2).
Athlete, you can survive the harshest elements of this world if you pitch your tent in the center of God’s will. But if you find yourself in an unfamiliar wilderness, STOP, PRAY, and SEEK Him! This will turn on your GPS!
Then ask yourself this question, “Am I truly loving the Lord with all my heart, soul, strength and mind?” God will reveal any area that you need to redirect to Him, and He will continue to shelter and protect you from danger.
Psalm 91:1,2 says, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the LORD, ‘My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’”
A prayer to consider: Lord, help me to keep my GPS turned on at all times, and show me daily where to pitch my tent.
