God is a strong tower.

That sounds pretty great, huh?  Awe-inspiring, even.    It sounds…well…strong.  Like everything should be okay because I have this amazing defender, right?

Right.

But, maybe, not exactly.

Over and over lately, I’ve been challenged in my idea of who God is, and specifically in this idea of what it means that He is my strong tower.

Because, historically, a strong tower wasn’t where you lived.  It’s where you ran when you were under siege and afraid for your life.  Synonymous with the castle “keep”, it was a refuge of last resort.  If you were lucky, it was well-stocked and heavily fortified, but it was never where you wanted to stay forever.  It was a place where you simply waited…I think most likely with a lot of fear…for your enemy to run out of resources, or interest, and finally leave you alone.  And although the strong tower was a defense against the enemy, it did not fight the enemy. It simply shielded its occupants…held them in (hopefully) security and safety…until there was security and safety to be found outside its walls.

A strong tower wasn’t a place of increase.

A strong tower wasn’t a place of productivity.

A strong tower wasn’t even a place of taking ground against an enemy.

Sometimes, being in God’s will brings about all of those things – abundance, growth, victory – but sometimes, being in God’s will means we are resting in Him as our strong tower.  Safe as safe can be, with impenetrable walls and provision to endure the longest siege (from my brief search, I learned at least one military siege lasted 21 years), but still a place with limited vision, few hopes realized, and always the reality of an enemy trying to bring ruin.

Nobody wants to live life relegated to a protective prison.  But this is the way God chooses to show up sometimes.  He never said we wouldn’t encounter conflict in life.  And the lives of Joseph and King David make it clear that He doesn’t always defeat our enemy the moment conflict does come.  And so, we need a safe place to hide, and rest, and wait so that we are not overcome.

There is peace in that.

I may really, really want to see the victory now, but there is peace in knowing that, while the battle rages, I am beyond the reach of my adversary.

The name of the Lord is a strong tower;
The righteous run to it and are safe. —Proverbs 18:10

For You have been a shelter for me,
A strong tower from the enemy. —Psalm 61:3