When I was about fifteen, I memorized this verse at church. Instantly, I connected with its message and imagery. After reading the entire chapter, I cherished it all the more. Even when pronouncing judgment, Nahum could not keep from praising God and declaring the LORD’s goodness and love.
My anxious teenage mind clung to these words, often imagining myself in a gray, rounded stone medieval-style castle, impenetrable by the outside world- a resting place protected by God Himself. Yet reality always seemed to lure me away, outside of this sanctuary, back into the bleak, agonizing experiences of this world. Leaving me exposed, battered by the arrows, bullets, and grenades of this world.
Could a complete lack of trust be what continually caused me to sink into fear and treachery? If I believed God is my refuge, then, as David said, “What can mere mortals do to me?” (Psalm 56:4 NASB)? Why could I not believe more wholeheartedly? How could I increase my faith? I wanted to have confidence. Why did I not?
Like a CD stuck on repeat, these questions played in my mind daily. Years passed, yet I continued to seek. Then one day, I realized I was relying on myself to manufacture faith. I thought I could believe more, and push myself more, but truly, everything is a gift from God, even trust. We still have free will, but every aspect of our salvation is through Christ. If I believe Him, there is no more I can do. No higher faith is required. He gives me the grace I need to humble myself and surrender.
Nothing can remove me from His presence or protection (Romans 8:31-39). Nahum’s stronghold is a reference to God’s judgment being poured out. (Nahum 1:6) The day of distress is not just a “Monday” but a day of reckoning, of total retribution and vengeance, of unfathomable pain and regret. The world will receive God’s judgment and justice. However, those who take refuge in the LORD escape the cup of wrath. Though hardships remain for a season, our reward far outweighs the delay.
Now suddenly, I realized the shelter I read about through the Bible is not necessarily a rescue from earthly danger but a safety from righteousness, holiness, and justice that could and would consume me if not satisfied in Christ Jesus. I am preserved by a covenant I do not have to fulfillonly accept. I am transferred from under the shadow of death and darkness to the shadow of perfection by the Almighty.
How incomprehensible are the ways of our God! He shields us with goodness and love; providing for all our eternal needs and sustaining us through trials and tribulations.