Are you ever weary? Do you wonder why some things in life are just so hard? Do you ever dream of a remote hide-a-way? I shouldn’t be shocked when life slaps me alongside the head. But I kinda am. I sometimes don’t understand why troubles should come if God loves me. Doesn’t God’s love guarantee a trouble free life?
It is said that in this world we will have trouble, but to take heart because Jesus has overcome the world. This verse can be encouraging and discouraging all at once. We try and avoid trouble, pain and heartache. But it’s part of life. And a life lived to its fullest needs to experience all the emotions this life offers.
However, sometimes it’s difficult to decipher if the trouble is a result of our own choices and actions or if we’ve been allured to the desert like Hosea. Either way, our troubles offer us opportunities to grow in faith and love and to put action to the words we say we believe in, such as: “I trust You.” or “He never leaves me nor forsakes me.”
Trust the Giver
Sometimes, though, we begin looking to our own abilities to help us through our troubles. We all have strengths or defaults we return to again and again. For some, it involves emotional stuffing where we don’t recognize the feelings of abandonment or anger or angst. For others, it involves working harder and longer in order to prove to ourselves and others that we have it all together. Still others, give up, so their walk with Christ often looks like two steps forward, three steps back.
It’s common to run to other things when life feels out of control and God appears to have abandoned us. How does he seem to do this? By not showing up when we demand, or answering that prayer the way we want or by not making other people behave the way we think they should. Yes, I try to boss God around, and be strong in my own strength. But the more I’m strong in my own strength the weaker I feel.
I need the reminder that it’s not my abilities or giftings that save me or help me. It’s God. He is the one who makes my way clear, one step at a time. He is the one who holds me up when I cannot stand up. I trust his eyes more than my own.
It is God who saves and so we boast in him. We say to ourselves: He is strong and if I rest in him, he will carry me to victory. God is the giver of your abilities. Everything you have that enables you to navigate through this life comes straight from him.
Do you want victory in your life? Begin by trusting in the giver of the gifts rather than your abilities.
“For not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me. But you have saved us from our foes and have put to shame those who hate us. In God we have boasted continually, and we will give thanks to your name forever.” Psalm 44:6-8
Application
What ability do you have a tendency to turn to when life gets hard?
List 3 attributes of God that you can boast about. It might be joy, strength, peace, power, comforter, redeemer, righteousness, portion, or provider. Choose three that resonate with you.
How are they are evident in your life? Say a prayer of praise.
I’ve prayed like I’ve never prayed before. I’ve reminded God of who He was and who I was. I’ve laid out my devotion and faithfulness. I’ve believed for a miracle. And I got a non-miracle. I got a, “Nope, I don’t think so.”
Upset? Yes. Crushed? You bet. Disappointed? Absolutely.
But I was determined to trust. Until I realized that trusting God was too dangerous because His love didn’t seem safe. He refused to give me what I wanted. To not answer my prayer the way I wanted seemed mean. So maybe He didn’t love me as much as He said He did.
The Flaw
My flaw? (Besides thinking I could boss God around?) was this: I was looking at God’s love through the broken glass of my own life. When I view God’s love through my brokenness, I see warped love. But when I view God’s love through His lens: I see a perfect love that casts out fear. I see a love that watched His son bleed a violent death so that I might know Him intimately as Father, Hope, Light and Life. I see a love that gave all so that I might know a hope and peace that defies all human explanation.
When I base my understanding on God’s love by what He does or does not do for me, I am doomed to struggle to trust Him. But when I base my understanding on God’s love on His character and His word, I am assured an unshakable trust.
Unshakable. Who wouldn’t love that? Who can really, truly understand that? Nothing in our finite world is unshakable. Buildings collapse. People disappoint. Jobs fail. Governments corrode.
Steadfast
But God. His love is steadfast. Unmovable. Unwavering. Resolute. Constant. Relent-less. Singleminded. Unyielding.
We get hit with bad news and our world is shaken. So we question whether God really loves us, but instead of confronting that issue, we decide we just need to trust Him more. We try harder, but then struggler harder when the bad things don’t quit hitting us.
We equate love of God with peaceful lives, answered prayers, and clear paths.
We don’t equate God’s love to trials, desert experiences, and dim paths.
However, God’s love transcends what we see, feel, or experience. It’s something we receive in faith, believe in faith, and grow in faith.
He loved us before we knew Him. We love Him because He loved us first.
And then He calls us to love Him first.
So, lets talk about love before we talk trust. Because the root of trust issues is a love issue.
Love & Trust
Do you believe God loves you? Really, truly loves you? Not that you feel like He loves you, but do you believe He loves you?
The Bible is full of examples about His steadfast love. He loved Joseph and gave Him favor: as a slave, in prison, and as second in command. He loved the Israelites even when they refused to love Him back.
He loves us more than we love our favorite people.
Sometimes we just have to say, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”
It doesn’t have to be proven to be true. It just is.
Okay, but what about if you need proof? Grab a mirror and smile. See those muscles move? That’s proof that God loves you. Hold the mirror close to your mouth and exhale. Again, that breath? It was gifted to you by God. Find your pulse–that involuntary muscle? Who started it? God.
I know what it’s like to ache and wonder whether you’re loved or not. I know the heart that aches and wonders if you’re the only unloveable one in the room. I know what it’s like to wave from the outside and realize that no one is waving back at you.
Unloved.
Yet, not.
The King of the universe has this crazy, unshakable love for you and he lavishes it on you. Do you have a teflon heart or a velcro heart? Does this truth slip right off or does it stick?
Application
1. Copy Psalm 21:7 on a card and tape it on the dashboard of your car.
2. If you have a teflon heart, why? Can you point to one circumstance that caused you to disbelieve God’s love? Now, write it down. Then, look at your disappoint with fresh eyes. Finally, use a Bible search tool to find three verses that describe God’s love for you.
3. Repeat: “God loves me with an unshakable kind of love,” 3 times before each meal.
The Refuge Series is my desire to point us to God’s word, to know what it says, and what His heart says within the words. God is our refuge. He’s our strength and our song. He hides us. He fights for us. He is I Am. We are weak and He is our strength.
I’m convicted. I’m energized. I’m humbled. I’m also astonished that the Lord offers the most amazing free gift of salvation. Because of this gift of grace, everything should flow out of the grace He’s worked in my life.
God is our refuge. He’s a refuge when life nips at our heels. He’s our refuge when we sin. He’s blesses us with contentment and happiness in the refuge place. God as our refuge provides testimony for us to share with each other so we don’t give up on walking towards victory. The refuge place is for us individually as well as a corporate body.
Actionable Steps
I added some practical application steps to the Refuge Series so that we have actionable steps to take to make God our refuge. God as my refuge has become a way of life for me and as a friend gently reminded me, people need the “how-to” not just the “why.” I’m including links to The Refuge Series so that you can go back and take those actionable steps. I hope they bless you and, mostly, that God uses them to reveal more of Himself to you.
The next question that arises in my heart is this: How can we make God our refuge if we don’t trust Him? We find comfort in things we trust. A trusted person, business, feeling, or habit. It’s easy to run to other things because they’ve proven themselves trustworthy. But what about God? Would you say He is trustworthy? Has He proven trust or broken trust?
He is trustworthy. But sometimes it’s us who doesn’t understand Him fully so we question His goodness.
We’re going to dive into trust and what that means and what it looks like next month.
Thank-you
Thank-you! I treasure your time and space in your head and your heart. Will you let me know how the application steps worked for you? You can leave a comment here or email me at jessica@welcomegrace.com
Your story matters. It matters more than you think. It matters because without your story, I wouldn’t know that I’m not alone.
We conquer because of the blood of Jesus working in our lives and because of the God-stories we tell. Each time you experience refuge living, forgiveness and pardon, and blessedness, you have an opportunity to share your victory with others.
Silence before God grows our faith, but silence before each other stifles our growth.
Your Words Matter
We are to remember and tell of God’s faithfulness in our lives. It’s because of God’s refuge that we can sing and it’s for the benefit of other believers that we do sing.
I need to hear your song of God’s faithfulness. You need to hear mine. We need each other. God knows this, which is why he created community. The devil knows this too, which is why he plays with our pride.
Our pride keeps us from making God our refuge. And when we refuse God’s refuge, we struggle on our own, risking our deaths, and stealing victory from each other. Our pride keeps us from declaring God’s love and faithfulness in our life.
We are not meant to struggle on our own. We are meant to run straight to God, stand firm with our eyes fixed on him, and let him fight for us. When we refuse his help, we rob ourselves of his life-giving and life-sustaining presence.
Where You Hide Matters
It’s in his refuge that we find peace and comfort and once we know them, we are able to share that peace and comfort with with others. I need your story. I need to hear of your harrowing experiences and how God miraculously showed you grace and mercy.
There’s something powerful when our ears hear words declaring God’s love and faithfulness. Did you know that I’ve been told I’m just not popular enough for a literary agent? Did you know that rejection is always hard for me and that every word I speak or write becomes fuel for the devil to take cheap shots at me? I have to live in refuge with God or else I would never live at all.
It’s because of hiding in him, that I have the courage to keep writing words. It’s because of his refuge that I find forgiveness for my selfish ambition. I find refuge, strength and my song because He is my refuge.
Draw Near to God
He wants to be yours as well. He sees you. The Lord knows your ache, but wants you more than anything else. He cares about a relationship with you and your circumstances can drive you deeper into that relationship. Or they can draw you away from Him.
If we draw near to God, he draws near to us. And sometimes in this world where we’re surrounded by people, we are incredibly alone. Achingly alone. That’s why I need your story. I need to know how God ministers to your heart. The church needs you.
Today, will you tell someone about the benefit of making God your refuge? Would you tell someone about your struggle in making him your refuge and the peace you felt once you did? And then tell me, too? I would love to hear your refuge story.
Application
Tell someone how God provided for you in the refuge either face to face, email, or postal mail.
Ask to hear someone else’s story of God’s faithfulness in their lives.
Ps. I write to encourage ordinary people to experience God’s transforming power. God’s grace isn’t bound by our past, our despair, or our shame. Broken, messed up people are welcome. If you enjoyed this article, would you consider subscribing to receive these weekly encouraging notes in your inbox? Your email is safe and your time is sacred. I count both as a gift. Thank-you!
What? I picture myself with death nipping at my heals, my knees torn and bleeding from stumbling, clothes ripped and ragged from racing through briars. I see myself squeaking through the opening into God’s refuge, bent at my waist, gasping for breath. All I feel is relief and suspicion that this God refuge will actually work.
But it does.
Finding refuge in Christ allows me to stand firm in the battle. It strengthens my faith. It enables me to delight in my God.
God, as my refuge, causes my roots to grow deep and wide so that I stay fruitful in times of distress.
I stay fruitful and, even, dare I admit, happy. Blessed is also translated as happy. “Happy is the one who makes God their refuge.” Happy: don’t we all need a triple shot of happy in our days?
The Sermon on the Mount
Making God my refuge brings to life the Sermon on the Mount:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted, blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled, blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy, blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:1-10 ESV
The Great Eight
When my spirit is helpless, I discover God’s kingdom.
I know comfort in my distress.
Humility provides abundance.
My hunger for righteousness is forever satisfied.
I extend mercy when I receive mercy.
Purity of heart brings clarity and I see God.
There’s only room for peace in God’s refuge.
The persecution that drives me to His refuge brings me to my inheritance.
The Discovery
I discover the kingdom of God when I make Him my refuge. I receive comfort in my distress and know my inheritance. When God is my refuge I am filled and receive mercy. Making God my refuge strips away my ability to affect change in my life and my heart is purified. When I step back and let God fight for me, I promote peace and am called the Daughter of God. Persecution drives me to make God my refuge and there I know his kingdom.
Blessed is the man or woman who runs straight into God’s refuge. Broken. Bleeding. Busted. If you want to be happy despite your circumstances, make God your refuge. You experience blessing. You will know peace in the midst of your fire.
On my Facebook profile, I reminded us that not only is God present to help us, but he is also well proved. He has proven himself over and over and over again that he loves and cares for us and never ever leaves or forsakes us. He is trustworthy. He deserves our devotion.
And as we devote our lives to him within the refuge he provides, we become blessed. Happy.
I could use a blessing, could you?
Let’s determine, together, to run straight into his wide, welcoming arms. We find our refuge, our peace, and our blessings in the sweet place of relationship with him.
Application
Jot down three big circumstances in your life.
Compare them to “The Great Eight”
Consider if one of your big three’s fall under one of The Great Eights. Example: if you’re struggling extending mercy, take some time to ponder how much mercy you’ve received. Or, if God is exposing sin in your heart, take a moment to rejoice that he’s bringing you closer to him.
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You know that battle you’re in? The one where you need a rebel heart? Sometimes it gets ugly and you take a cheap shot and find that you’re bleeding through your tears. You search for the enemy and his location. Only you don’t see an enemy, you see yourself.
You see yourself wielding a weapon that kills your spirit and cuts out the good. Sometimes the good shines too much of a spotlight on your bad. The enemy of your soul tries to tell you it’s better to be bad than a mix of good and bad and you believe it. So you take your weapon and wound yourself. But not only have you cut the good out, but you’ve re-wounded the bad and your heart continues to bleed out. And your mind tells you that you’re worth nothing to nobody.
These types of heart wounds take place when we forget that we live a both/and kind of life.
We are the murderer and the acquitted.
The Guilty and Innocent
Without the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross and the unfathomable grace God give us, we are nothing more than destructive, sinful people. Our crimes, so to speak, are not limited to only hurting ourselves, but they spread out to those around us. There are times when the wounds in our hearts hurt us so bad that we find psuedo-relief when we hurt someone else.
The Refuge Series in my attempt to remind us that there is a place for our murderous and wounded hearts. “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer.” 1 John 3:15
We don’t have to actually commit murder to murder. Hate in our hearts is murder. Without Christ our hearts stay wounded and broken. We are a mess. A mess that seems impossible to fix.
In the Old Testament, God created cities of refuge for all people who committed a crime of passion. This humanitarian option took vengeance out of the hands of the people. The elders determined innocent or guilty.
The catch? The person that found refuge couldn’t leave the city until the high priest died. In Old Testament times the High Priest bore the sins of the people (can you imagine that burden? It would make me cranky, crabby, and law-making). so this refuge actually became like house arrest. If the person left the city of refuge, he was fair game for his enemies, but safe if he stayed.
So how does this apply to us? I’m not a murderer you might say. And I would agree. But how many times have you used your words to cut off the life God wants to grow in you? How many times have I done it? Too many to count. How many times have we followed God until we grew uncomfortable, and then quit the growing process? This is like cutting off or murdering the life God grows in you.
Our City of Refuge
God is our city of refuge. But he’s also our High Priest. And Jesus has already paid the penalty for our sins. So it’s a both/and kind of life.
We run our guilty hide straight into God’s refuge. He protects us from our enemies, which is often ourselves. And Jesus has already fulfilled the payment for forgiveness of sins. We confess. We get a fresh slate. Wiped clean. Brand new. When we leave the city of refuge, our enemies can’t touch us. Because we’re covered in Jesus’ righteousness.
This is the kind of refuge I need. I need it when my life blows shrapnel into my heart. I need it when the words I speak to myself destroy the good thing God is doing in me. Do you?
Do you need to run to God’s refuge today? Not because of some outward force of enemy, but because you keep sabotaging your Christian walk? Do you feel like you’ve messed up too much and God must be sick of you?
He’s not. He’s waiting with arms open wide to offer you forgiveness and grace and the strength to grow.
Run to Him. He is your city of refuge.
Application
Grab a 3×5 card, a journal, or notebook and write this prayer:
“Lord, search me and know me. See if there is any anxious way within me. Shine the spotlight of your Holy Spirit into the darkened and deadened areas of my heart. Lead me in the way of truth so that I might live fully for you.”
Read and Meditate on Psalm 51
Copy Psalm 51:10-11 in a place where you will see it.
