The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
Those who know Your name  trust in You,
for You, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek You.
Psalm 9:9+10

An old castle never was built within one day, it took years. We should build our personal castle for times of need as long as we live in peace. We build our castle by maintaining daily our relationship with God, by meditating on Him, increasing our knowledge and experience with Him. The more we do that, the more the castle becomes stronger.
These good habits are our stonghold, they change us and give us foothold. In the morning immediately after wake up we praise our  Lord. We pray before eating. When we wash ourselves, we thank Jesus that He cleanses us at the same time from all dirt and sin. We pray before we leave our home, or make a car trip. We have fixed dates for our prayer time. We study His words and notice important verses that shape us and which we want to remember. We practice to forgive and that immediately whenever possible. All in all we exercise a new lifestyle: Generosity, no stinginess, no slander, no pride, no greed – instead kindness and mercy and above all we have a continuous dialog with the Lord. There is so much what we can exercise.
We change our way of thinking and follow the will of God. The world cannot manipulate and lead us astray any more.
We write down our good encounters with God in order not to forget in times of need that He has so often helped us before.
We study the bible. The words strengthen us, make us rich.There is always something new to discover. Christians who were put in jail and labor camps were able to comfort fellow prisoners with bible knowledge, for instance with the words of psalm 23 which have embolden many.
In this way we build our castle in Jesus Christ whom we fully trust. He will not disappoint anyone. All who know the Lord rely on that blindly. We may trust Him and go further with Him even though we sometimes do not understand the reason of the trouble. We nevertheless will keep up praising and loving Jesus blindly. Then He really becomes our fortress which gives us tranquility, safety, power and security .
Thank You, Jesus, You are my fortress! In You I find security even if  there is storm outside. You are my powerful Helper!  By Your hand I can remain calm and safe.

Bible reading today – Psalm 10