April 3, 2025 Devo

Read this verse out loud. Now read it out loud like you mean it! These words of David are powerful statements of hope and encouragement for us. Notice how David says, “The Lord is my strength AND shield.” We often turn to God as a defensive measure. We want His protection. We want Him to watch over us. We want Him to keep us from harm. And He does all those things! That is God operating as our SHIELD. My guess is that only in Heaven will we see all the many ways that God has watched over us. He’s probably protected us from more things than we can imagine.
But He is also our STRENGTH. That’s more of God on the offense. God can give us the wisdom to make the best choices. Not just help and healing from the bad ones. God can give us the courage to say and do the things that we need to. God can not only carry us through those difficult moments of life, He can put life back into our souls, so that we can stand again, walk again, and live again. God is not just a shield against the Enemy, He is our strength who can help us live victoriously OVER the Enemy! Is He BOTH of these for YOU?
The last part of this verse is a little more challenging. “I trust Him with all my heart.” Do you? My experience has been that most of us have a hard time with that. We trust Him as a Shield, except when it comes to THIS person or THAT thing. It’s as if we believe God can be our protector, but not in every situation. Or it’s as if we believe God can be our Strength to do MOST things, but we become paralyzed when we face that BIG thing. Which is funny, because you would think that the God who spoke the Universe into being is probably capable of doing ANYTHING through ANYONE He so chooses. Including US!
But sometimes our hearts haven’t caught up with the reality of who God is. So we hold onto it ourselves. I want you to read that verse one more time, but this time I want you to think about that thing you are having a hard time trusting God with. When you get to that “all my heart” phrase, I want you to say what it is you’ve been holding onto…that thing you’re having trouble trusting God with. God IS your Strength and Shield. He watches over you, lives in you, and works through you. He is also more powerful than you can ever imagine. And when you remember who God is, you can trust Him with ALL your heart. That’s God’s Word for you today.