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

*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 God’s 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 he’d been anointed king of Israel. When David finally assumed the throne, he was a man after God’s 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 history’s greatest revival. 

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

God sheltered Esther while in the palace of Persia’s 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 don’t 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 won’t stop now.

And so can you. You can count on the sheltering God to help you no matter where you’ve been or where you’re 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?  

*Selected.. Shelter in storm.. David jeremiah