Even though his wife had scrounged up a fan to offset the worst heat wave in 40 years, it wasn’t the heat that bothered him the most. It was the torment in his mind after his ten-hour surgery. Hideous pictures and sounds crowded each other. His wife found some Christian music and he put in his earbuds. It soothed him a little, but he could not rest from the horror that captured his thoughts until he whispered, “Jesus.”

The Name above all names. “Jesus, Jesus.” The chaos ceased. He lay quietly. Although the heat was still oppressive, the turmoil had been arrested by the powerful name of Jesus.

When I was a child, my father led us in reading the Bible. The verse I remember most clearly from that time is Proverbs 18:10. I recalled it as I tried to sleep in a room with large windows on two sides as ruthless bandits roamed the area of the country I resided in, far from home. I recalled it during the difficult birth of our first child in another foreign country. Recently while facing multiple surgeries, it has been my “go to” place, my mustering point for a quiet heart.

The name of the Lord does not promise the absence of trouble because Jesus said that in this world we would have trouble (John 16:33). Rather, the name of the Lord is an ever-present refuge, an invisible armor, and a powerful weapon.

Jesus, you have the name that is above every other name. We know that one day every knee will bow and acknowledge that you are Lord, to the glory of God the Father. So now we call out your name again and again in awe and in thankfulness for the power through your name to deal with all that you allow in our lives. Amen.

Go Deeper — Remember that “we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:3b-4). For more help with spiritual warfare, memorize Ephesians 6:10-18.

Read Further — Do you feel pressures pressing in on you? Read Crushed in Spirit about some Biblical greats who experienced the same thing and received hope.



Tags: Proverbs
Photo Credit: Faye Cornish