God is Our Safe Place!

Welcome!

Welcome to day 3 of Rainforest Falls VBS! Just as a reminder my name is Jesse!

We have been learning all about the nature of God this week, meaning that we have been learning what he is like!

On day 1 we learned that God is our creator. He created the entire world in just 6 days by speaking it into existence and rested on the 7th day to teach us the importance of rest.

Then on day 2 we learned about David, a man that God created who was a great King, Warrior, and a Great Songwriter, who wrote many of the Psalms. David’s Psalm in Chapter 139 taught us that God knows everything, including everything about me and you! We also learned that he loves us and is always there for us no matter where we are!

Today we are going to dive into another important part of God’s nature!

Today we are going to learn that God is our safe place. (Wow, God!)

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That means even though scary things may happen and most likely will at some point, we can turn to God to find strength and courage.

God doesn’t promise that life will be easy but he does promise us that he will always be there with us!

The Bible, this book that contains true stories that show us the nature of God says many times from the beginning to the end of it that God will always be with us, something that Jesus himself even said multiple times.

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Here are some examples from the Bible:

Deuteronomy 31:8 The Lord himself will go ahead of you. He will be with you. He will never leave you. He’ll never desert you. So don’t be afraid. Don’t lose hope.”

Joshua 1:9 Here is what I am commanding you to do. Be strong and brave. Do not be afraid. Do not lose hope. I am the Lord your God. I will be with you everywhere you go.”

Psalm 23:4 Even though I walkthrough the darkest valley, I will not be afraid. You are with me. Your shepherd’s rod and staff comfort me. (One of David’s Psalms)

Isaiah 41:10 So do not be afraid. I am with you. Do not be terrified. I am your God. I will make you strong and help you. I will hold you safe in my hands. I always do what is right.

Those are just some examples from the Old Testament, but it is also repeated many times in the New Testament

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For Example:

Matthew 28:20 Teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And you can be sure that I am always with you, to the very end.” (This is Jesus saying this himself)

Romans 8: 38-39 I am absolutely sure that not even death or life can separate us from God’s love. Not even angels or demons, the present or the future, or any powers can separate us. Not even the highest places or the lowest, or anything else in all creation can separate us. Nothing at all can ever separate us from God’s love. That’s because of what Christ Jesus our Lord has done.

Hebrews 13: 5 Don’t be controlled by love for money. Be happy with what you have. God has said, “I will never leave you. I will never desert you.” (God says this in Deuteronomy 31:6)

Today we are going to learn more about David and a time when he had to lean on God and trust him to be strong and brave.

Saul was the current King of God’s people. God’s people were never meant to have a King because God is their King but they wanted to be like all the other people groups of that time.

God gave them what they wanted and gave them a human king. However he had fallen and was not up to God’s standard so God anointed David to be the next King.

David honored God and was even a man after God’s own heart but he also loved Saul and more importantly Saul’s son Jonathan who was one of David’s best friends.

This put David in a hard spot because David knew the truth that the Crown belonged to God and whoever he chose to wear it at that moment but Saul fought it was his and then would be Jonathan’s.

Saul knew that someone else had been anointed by the Prophet or messenger of God to be the next King but was not sure who until he realized it was David.

This set Saul off as he saw David as a son to him since he was so close to Jonathan but now he felt like David was betraying him.

Lets watch a video to see what this initial encounter may have been like.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnSuhaDtDhI

Man that was a wild scene and as you can tell Saul is very angry and even trying to get David murdered for something he did not do.

Don’t worry though, while David has to flee and it is not easy for him God is always with him and protecting him.

It says this in First Samuel Chapter 23 verse 14

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1 Samuel 23:14 Sometimes David stayed in places of safety in the desert. At other times he stayed in the hills of the Desert of Ziph. Day after day Saul looked for him. But God didn’t hand David over to him.

Even though Saul looked for David constantly God protected him and did not allow Saul to find him.

Like the verse said David hid many places to escape Saul including a place called the Cave of Adullam where he reconnected with people who supported him especially when they learned he is the next King, lets take a look.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wqvWZRXA1w&list=PLdS77IxnVEseGvpAYH8qO6sPepyxTvfHa&index=23

David was able to find refuge in this cave for a short time with people who supported him and God anointing him.

It doesn’t show this in the video we just washed but they all went to hide because Saul is about to enter that cave.

However it is not for the reason we expect to Kill David but because he needed to use the bathroom.

David does something interesting in this scene however instead of striking back at Saul like we might do if someone was trying to hurt us he just cut a little piece of fabric off of Sauls cloak while he was not looking.

David actually regrets this and says it is not right as Saul is still the chosen King by God for now until he takes the throne later.

David then tell everybody else not to hurt Saul which they reluctantly agree.

What David does next is even crazier lets look

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvuDjWuqpuM

David actually goes to talk to Saul and even consoles him that is crazy.

Saul was trying to kill him but David still had compassion for Saul.

David then gives him the fabric and they forgive each other.

Wow! God is our safe place. (Wow, God!)

He kept David safe when he was in serious danger!

More importantly David knew an important truth that we should as well which is we can always take our worries, fears, and problems to God and he will help us.

He trusted God to guide him and help him do what was right as we saw in the last video.

Can you think of a time you felt scared or worried?

What can God do to help us in times like these?

God is our safe place. (Wow, God!)

This does not mean nothing scary will ever happen because unfortunately we live in a fallen world so things that are scary are going to happen.

It also does not mean we should do scary things to try and test God as the Bible is clear we should not test God.

What it does mean is that whenever we are scared we can trust God because he is right there next to us as we learned yesterday.

No matter where we are or what we are doing God is with us and looking after us.

We can ask him for help and he can help us feel calm and safe even when we might be in a scary situation.

This is because God is bigger than King Saul, and he is bigger than heights, or spiders, or the dark.

God is bigger than any situation or thing we might face because God is bigger than anything!

God is our safe place. (Wow, God!)

Thank you guys for doing so good this week learning about the Bible and about the Nature of God - What he is like. Make sure to join us tomorrow for some fun!