Stronghold

The LORD of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our stronghold. –Psalm 46:7

A stronghold is a place that provides protection from attack.  Being firm within a stronghold gives us comfort in that we are protected from the assault that occurs outside of stronghold.  Jacob eventually found his protection in the stronghold being offered to him by Jehovah God after God was able to break Jacob of his past.

Jacob had lived his life as a deceiver by trying to manipulate God’s favor.  Jacob deceived his brother, his father and his father in-law in his attempt to manipulate God’s blessing.  God continued to work on Jacob and brought Jacob to the point at which he had to accept who he was.  God had broken Jacob of his past and it was at this point that He was finally able to use Jacob for His glory.  Jacob was given his new God given name of Israel and God’s promise continued through his seed.

What is Jehovah God trying to break you of?  What is it that He is asking you to leave behind and live for His promises?  That which God is asking us to give up in His name will be returned to us a thousand fold. 

The Look

Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!”  Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed.  The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter.  Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.”  And he went outside and wept bitterly.  –Luke 22:60-62

Each time is read this account of Peter’s denial of Christ; it brings into clarity the frailty of our humanness.  As followers of Christ, we can profess our devotion to His deity but it is in times of crisis when the true character of our faith is revealed.  I repeatedly ask myself that if Christ were next to me at any given time, would that which I am currently doing deny His deity?  Would I be able to look Christ in the eye and show my devotion to His leading of my life?  Sadly at times, the answer is no.

What I find most intense about Peter’s denial is that he denied who Christ was to His face.  I have often wondered just what the look was that Christ gave to Peter at this moment and what the look was on Peter’s face as he stood face to face with Christ.  At this point, Peter was thoroughly broken as he ran away while weeping bitterly. 

I have had those moments of bitter weeping.  Your entire body clenches and you are not able to control your emotions but at the end of bitter weeping, you feel a complete burden being lifted.  It has been said that Jehovah God is only able to use once you have been broken.  The history of Peter after this brokenness reveals that he was the cornerstone for the Church and it was upon this cornerstone that Christ built His church.

When we break a bone in our body, the point at which the bone heals is always the strongest point on that bone.  When we allow the areas in our life in which we have been broken to be used by Jehovah God for His glory, we soon realize that it is through our brokenness that we are made strong.