What Happens Behind Fortress Walls

I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress my God, in whom I trust.”  Psalm 91:2

A fortress is a place to hide, a safe place from those who are moving in to wound and kill.  But a fortress is also more than that.  Strategic plans for both offensive and defensive maneuvers are conceived and implemented behind fortified walls.  There,

my Father instructs me in ways of war. 

Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. He is my loving God and my fortress.  Psalm 144:1.

A fortress is a place to re-group. 

There are weapons I’m not yet familiar with. 

There are strategic words of scripture I have not yet spoken. 

There are personality profiles of the enemy that are unfamiliar to me. 

There are battles I will lose because I lack instruction.

There will be times I’ll retreat when I should advance. 

A fortress is for training and intelligence.  A fortress is where warriors are fashioned.  In the distance, I hear gunfire and explosions, but it is not my fight until God leads me out with strength and strategy. 

Today, the enemy is at work.  I see it from afar .  I also see it up close in those who have given Satan an open door to work through their lives.  Reckless words and actions come against lovers of Jesus, and it takes preparation inside a Fortress to know how to thrive in this environment.  I also see the enemy at work in my places of faithlessness.  He is intuitive, cunning, and knows how to get in my back door.  My Father shines the light on tiny places of access that are unknown to me.  Sin is confessed, doors are closed, and He gives me a word to prepare me to stand against the opposition.

When I need my Refuge, I rest in everlasting arms.  When I need my Fortress, I train under His instruction.  Rested.  Revived.  Re-grouped.    

You are all I need.  This is true, not just a cliché from childhood.  I’m a leaf in the wind without You.  Amen