The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. Proverbs 18:10
The world of your 4-year-old crumbles right alongside the cookie pieces left at the spot where he tripped. You open your arms and he dashes in, knowing you will make it better.
Your 12-year-old daughter is struggling with friends as the three other girls in her class spend all of recess practicing the latest tricks they learned in gymnastics and she stands idly by. She comes to you looking for reassurance and love.
You just heard that a friend has terminal cancer and your husband holds you close to him.
Isn’t it awesome that God has provided so many human “strong towers†with whom we can share our struggles? Even more awesome, though, God promises that his very name is our fortified tower, no matter our trouble. What a huge blessing!
Whatever our vocation or age, sin and struggles surround us. We pastors’ wives are certainly not immune! We have marriage challenges, health troubles, and personal invitations from Satan to sin each and every day. We have friends and relatives who share with us heartbreaking suffering. On top of that, we also often witness sin wreaking havoc in our husband’s ministries, from midnight calls to the hospital to intense counseling situations that can leave our husbands shaken.
What do we do when these trials come? The passage tells us “The name of the LORD is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.†Just like that little boy who runs to mom looking for a hug, so we believers (the righteous - because of Jesus!) run to our God for his comfort and strength. Make a picture of what that fortified tower looks like in your mind - super strong, right? No enemy is getting past that barred door to harm you. And what is that fortified tower? It certainly would have been sufficient for the writer to say “the Lord,†but God inspired him to write “the name of the Lord.â€
Think back to your Catechism days. Remember the definition for “the name of the Lord?†The name of the Lord is everything that God reveals to us about himself in his Word. So as you start paging through Scriptures, those names and characteristics you see? Those are the things about God that make him your strong tower. Here are just a few of my favorites:
Immanuel: (Isaiah 7:14) God with us - always, no exceptions!
Almighty: (Psalm 46:7) The Lord is stronger than any threat.
Good Shepherd: (John 10) The Lord cares deeply about each individual member of his flock, enough to lay down his life for the sheep.
Father: (1 John 3:1) He loves each of us as a perfect Father: nurturing, protecting, and sacrificing, for our sake.
Finally, Savior: (Ps 62:1) My salvation has been won through Christ, so my soul can find rest. God’s got this, just like he has had every part of my life in his hands.
As we start another year, one sure to be filled with the struggles and storms of life, remember that all of these qualities of our amazing God and many more are your personal strong tower. What an awesome God we have!
