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Tuesday, December 12, 2017

The Promise of Safety

Do you ever feel like the world is out to get you and you just want to run away from it all?  I know I have felt that way. How and where we run is important though.  People respond to pressure differently and they seek their escape from trouble in different ways, too. Some turn to drugs and/or alcohol.  Some turn to sex and promiscuity.  Some turn to self-harm.  All of these different methods of escape have one thing in common:  the people that turn to them are looking for a way out of the pain and trouble.  We see people from war torn countries that seek their escape in other countries.  We call them refugees.  The host country provides them safety and shelter. 

It is easy for us to feel as though we are pressed in on all sides.  When we feel as though we want to run away from it all, where should we run?  To the drugs and alcohol?  To sex? To self-harm?  How should we find our escape from all that is threatening to crush us?

Psalms 62:7-8  In God is my salvation and my glory; The rock of my strength, And my refuge, is in God.  (8)  Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah

Ah, this scripture is comforting, is it not?  It is to me.  God is my salvation!  He is your salvation, too.  He is our place of refuge.  He is the rock of our strength.  Have you ever tried to bend or break a rock?  It is next to impossible.  The rock is solid.  It is strong.  It doesn't get blown about in the wind.  It stays firm.  We have to trust in Him...and we have to trust Him with our hearts.  It can be difficult to trust someone that we can't see.  It can be difficult to trust Him with our hearts when we have been hurt over and over again by those close to us.  But it's okay.  We can pour our hearts out to Him in the times of our trouble.  He understands. He is our safe place and our refuge.  We can come to Him when we feel as though we have nowhere else to go.  He is always there.  


Psalms 71:3  Be to me a rock of habitation to which I may continually come; You have given commandment to save me, For You are my rock and my fortress. (NASB)

A habitation is an abode or a retreat.  It is a dwelling.  Just like we come home each day to the places we live after work, so we can come to God.  Why do we find it so difficult to say to God that we know He is our rock and our strength and we need refuge from those around us that seek our demise?


Isaiah 25:4  For You have been a strength to the poor, A strength to the needy in his distress, A refuge from the storm, A shade from the heat; For the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.

Isaiah makes it clear above that God is our shelter and protection from the elements around us.  Not only is He our place of refuge, but He is also our hiding place.  


Psalms 32:7  You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.

Psalms 31:20  You hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the conspiracies of man; You keep them secretly in a shelter from the strife of tongues.

God will hide us.  He will give us refuge in the secret place of His presence.  Psalm 31:20 even says He will hide us from the conspiracies of men and keep us secretly in a shelter...safe from the "strife" of tongues.  What does that even mean? Strife means "adversary" or "contention." There is an enemy that seeks to kill, to steal, and to destroy us.  Even when people are plotting against you, it is the unseen invisible enemy at work against you.  Remember, our fight is not against flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12).  Don't try and seek your escape in anything other than the presence of our Father.  

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

Just call on the name of the Lord and you will be safe from the enemy.  Call on the name of the Lord and take refuge in His presence.  His very name is a tower of strength.  

Today, don't let the things the enemy would use crush you.  Become a refugee in the strong tower of the name of the Lord where you will find safety, rest, and peace.  

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