As we close the curtain on the Weary Traveler series, we will uncover the profound peace that comes from God's promise to be our shelter, our protector, and our guide through every twist and turn.
The warmth of spiritual companionship and the power of encouragement take center stage as we wrap up this series. I share my deep gratitude for the connections we've made and extend an invitation to continue finding inspiration with me every Monday. Join me as we reaffirm our commitment to carrying this encouragement forward, sharing it with others, and always seeking solace in the loving embrace of God.
Now get out into the world and be a woman who intentionally encourages another!
As we close the curtain on the Weary Traveler series, we will uncover the profound peace that comes from God's promise to be our shelter, our protector, and our guide through every twist and turn.
The warmth of spiritual companionship and the power of encouragement take center stage as we wrap up this series. I share my deep gratitude for the connections we've made and extend an invitation to continue finding inspiration with me every Monday. Join me as we reaffirm our commitment to carrying this encouragement forward, sharing it with others, and always seeking solace in the loving embrace of God.
Now get out into the world and be a woman who intentionally encourages another!
#women #podcast
Speaker 1:
Good morning, you heard her. Happy Monday. Welcome back to the Weary Traveler podcast series. It's Jo. How was your weekend? How are you all doing?
Speaker 1:
I hope, wherever you find yourself listening to this, that you're able to catch a moment to just be refilled. Life is draining and can make us weary. The whole point of this podcast series was to remind you that you are not alone. While you are traveling on your journey of life, you have sisters in Christ doing it with you, brothers in Christ doing it with you, a body of believers traveling the same journey, trying to depend upon God as they walk through their life. And number one that reminder is so important as you walk through your days, to know you're not doing it alone. When those moments of loneliness come, you can fight back with the truth, knowing there are people doing it too. Number two God is always with you. We know that. That's another reminder through this series that, as you feel weary on your travels, to remember that God is also always with you.
Speaker 1:
To look back briefly at our little series here we've talked about how God is ultimately the one who quenches our thirst. He is also the one that provides the true nourishment we need in our lives, and he also provides light for our path, which helps, guides us as we walk along our journey. And I want to also just remind you, ladies who are listening, that we can have nourishment, we can have light to guide our path, we can be quenched of our thirst, and yet we still need direction. So last week we talked about how the Holy Spirit, who was left inside of us as a helper, is our guide, is our spiritual GPS, our God placed spirit. That is what guides us on our journey. So let's just be reminded of that as we move into the last session here of weary traveler.
Speaker 1:
Now, truly and honestly, I've loved this series and I feel as though we could talk about this for a long time, because there's many things that God promises us and there's many things that we need, but I'm just going to end with one more, knowing that there's much more we could cover. So today I want to talk to you about how God is also our shelter. Let me just open us up in prayer before we begin our last encouragement for the weary traveler series Lord, thank you so much for this. Time and technology, the ability to share and hear your word with freedom, the amazing chance to share it with someone else. We pray that, as the listener the encourage her hears your words today, that they are reminded that you are the refuge, you are our shelter and our protection. We praise you for it, we thank you for it and thank you for being with us on this journey, lord, helping us when we grow weary In your name, amen. So, as I said, we know, so far the weary traveler has been given water, living water, nourishment for our souls from the Lord, light to guide our path and even direction on which ways to go, wisdom on how to move and when to pivot. We know we have those things now through our series.
Speaker 1:
And lastly, I was thinking about I've been in the Old Testament for quite some time and I've just thought a lot about the Israelites traveling to the Promised Land and then, most recently, going through a study called Through the Desert with Lina Abu Jambra who, if you're local to South Jersey, we are having at Fellowship Community Church as our keynote speaker this April. So I'm really enjoying the study, coming to the close of the study actually this week. So I've just been thinking again about these times where God's people were asked to travel or go through a season and they became wary and just seeing God's faithfulness and His provision in their life, and it kind of brought me to thinking about shelter as a basic need. I think if you ask someone what do humans need, they'd probably say food, water and shelter, and what I want to talk to you today about is just like two kind of thoughts as we begin.
Speaker 1:
When you think of shelter, what do you think of? I imagine, if you're like me, you think of a house. Maybe you even take a little time and imagine homes from long ago and how they've evolved. We have become, at least in the culture that I live in, so, depending on where you're living or where you're hearing this, your culture and your home life situation may be different, so keep that in mind. But what I'm referring to? A home. I'm talking about a house that is safe, one that has become so comfortable here in the United States that we often isolate into our homes. We literally have created technologies like air conditioning, where we're even conditioning the air to meet our needs. Our homes have become so cozy and safe and I'm realizing, as you're listening to this, that not everyone's house is safe, but I want you to imagine a place of safety. If it's not your home. Where have you experienced that before? A place where you felt safe.
Speaker 1:
Shelter often keeps us safe from the elements Maybe rain or wind or a boat in a storm could be considered a shelter. It's a place where you receive safety and rest, and God, in his word, promises to be that for us to be our shelter, to be our refuge. And so what I'm talking about today is not a structure where our mind normally goes right Maybe a tent, a boat, a home, an apartment but instead a person, a powerful and protective presence, and by that I'm talking about God. He is our powerful and our protective presence, our shelter from the storm, our refuge in times of trouble. And I want to read you a little scripture. You can read the Psalms, and all over the Psalms you'll hear from David.
Speaker 1:
King David, and some of the scripture I'm focusing on today, is in a time where he was running in desperation from King Saul, and he's often in a place where he needs to hide and seek shelter. So he is literally looking for actual safety, and you can hear that the same way, you need safety from someone else who may harm you, but you may also be thinking about it from a place of comfort, a spiritual safety, maybe, just rest. You want to rest in the Lord. So, as you read the scriptures, think about how God is speaking to you here. In Psalm 36, verses 5 through 7, we hear this from King David your unfailing love, o Lord, is as vast as the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the ocean depths. You care for people and animals alike, o Lord, how precious is your unfailing love. O God, all humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings, and we have Psalm 46, one through two. God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble, so we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea.
Speaker 1:
Ladies, maybe you're in a season of crumbling, a season of fear, a season of knowing something is happening in your life that's super, super hard and you can't do it alone. And you feel weak on this journey while traveling through life. You feel tired and you need a shelter. You can rest assured that the Lord will bring you under his wing and keep you safe. He may not be able to change the circumstance, but he, spiritually, can give you strength through the struggle. He can keep you from times of trouble if you stay under his covering. Again, that's not a promise that life is perfect. In this scripture we see mountains may fall, earthquakes may shake the ground, your foundation may be rocked. He's not promising perfection or stability, but instead he's promising his powerful and protective presence.
Speaker 1:
Here, in Psalm 27.5, we see David once again reminding us for in the day of trouble, he will keep me safe in his holy tent. In the secret place of his tent he will hide me, he will set me high upon a rock. And lastly, I'm going to read from Psalm 91.1 through 6. Those who live in the shelter of the most high will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord. He alone is my refuge, my place of safety. He is my God and I will trust him, for he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from every deadly disease. He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and your protection. Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the night. Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes by midday. Ladies, he is our refuge.
Speaker 1:
There are things that make us weary. We suffer, we strain, we often feel tired and unable and incapable of doing this life that God has given us. But the truth is that with the Lord we can. We can be strong, we can seek him in the quiet place of our spirit. I love this idea of a secret place in his tent, if you can just kind of imagine when you're with his word being in his tent, being in his holy presence, and then getting out into the world and remembering in times of trouble that he is in you. The helper, the Holy Spirit is there to provide safety and sometimes that does look like direction or light, like we said, but sometimes that's just rest. The weary traveler needs to rest in the Lord. We all need rest, ladies. We all need to stop and seek him. He will refuel you and refill you and give you strength and shelter. He will be powerful in your life. He will protect and he is always present as you travel this road called life.
Speaker 1:
I wanna close our little series here by again reading some of the lyrics from the song which inspired this whole series, to begin with the Weary Traveler, by Jordan St Sire. I think I'm mispronouncing that name, but I want you to look it up and listen to the song. I encourage you to do so as we wrap up this series. And just be reminded you won't be weary long. Weary traveler, beat down from the storms that you have weathered, feels like this road just might go on forever. Carry on. You keep on giving, but every day this world just keeps on taking. Your tired heart is on the edge of breaking. Carry on, weary traveler. Restless soul, you are never meant to walk this road alone. It'll all be worth it. So just hold on, weary traveler, you won't be weary long.
Speaker 1:
Ladies, I'm so grateful that you listened in to the Weary Traveler series. I hope that it gave you hope. His word is hope. I pray that you had reminders of where to find living water when you're thirsty, nourishment when you're hungry, light when it's dark, guidance from the Holy Spirit when you need direction and rest and protection from our God, who is our shelter. You won't be traveling this much longer. Weary traveler. Carry on and seek Him and remember that you are not alone.
Speaker 1:
Ladies, if this podcast series or any individual podcast brings you encouragement, share it with someone else. Maybe even share with her why it brought you encouragement and share the link so she too can be encouraged. And then I'm going to give you a job. Turn around After you get filled up with encouragement, get out into the world, right out of the safety of our little homes and our cozy comfort zones, and share it with her. Encourage her with a word from your heart. We all need encouragement and so does she. Happy Monday, so grateful to be together today and just get out into the world, ladies, and be a woman who chooses to encourage her. I'll catch you again next Monday as we ramp up for Easter. Love to you all.
