Refuge

The last few days, even weeks, have been heavy.

We have seen and experienced devastation. Homes ripped up from their seams. Towns flooded. Families separated. Fear settling in as we wake up to face the unknown. As storms barreled towards Florida, I heard stories from some traveling great distances,  leaving their life behind them, not knowing what they would return to.

Refuge: a condition of being safe or sheltered from pursuit, danger, or trouble.

A condition of being safe…

As I write these words, I am overwhelmed by emotion. I’ve seen the hurt. I’ve seen the destruction. I’ve seen what people are running from and running to.

But even that refuge won’t last. Eventually they will have to leave that shelter and safety and drive back to what might be a mess of a home and build it back again. And another storm will brew. Whether it be a hurricane, a divorce, a death, a disease, or a lost job. There’s no refuge in this world that will last.

“…every storm that I face, when foundations give way, even in my mistake- you are my refuge.”

But there is a God that has secured a victory outside of the boundaries of this world. Our lives will shake and shatter. The winds will whirl and the earth will give way. It isn’t the circumstances that we face that determine His goodness.

I write this from a very personal place. Maybe I reference this too often, but when you have walked through losing a daddy at such a young age, you find yourself in a very vulnerable state. It was in those times of questions, fear, and anger at the brokenness that my family was having to face that the Lord began to show me the raw hope that He offers through Himself. And it is in that place that I continuously find more peace, love, and safety. I find rest in the eye of the storm, not because everything makes sense around me, but because I have tasted and seen of a God that has defeated sin and promises me an eternity.

I wish I could sit across a table from you, drink a cup of coffee (or something else, if you’re like me) and pour out my heart to you. I want each of you to experience this refuge as my family has- as I have. Tonight has been one of those nights that are more difficult than others. I sit on my bed, tears streaming down, searching for something to ease the pain of not having my dad here with me. Nothing even begins to subside those longings except a peace that surpasses all understanding through the presence of Jesus in my life.

You see, He knew that this world did not offer us much. He knew that it was empty, sinful, and full of destruction just waiting to come to fruition. There was this huge gap that left us utterly hopeless. In order to reconcile, there had to be a sacrifice. Jesus submitted to the same temptations, emotions, and difficulties that we face as humans. He experienced it just as you and I do day in and day out- but He resolved in His heart that He was here to make a way, so He knew no sin. Can you imagine how difficult that had to be for Him? Yet, He persisted and still ended up at the cross. A perfect life lived, a sinful death died. Jesus hung on the tree, but it was me and you that God looked down and saw. He took our sin, our messes, our mistakes on His shoulders and He took the wrath of God that you and I deserved. DON’T TAKE THAT LIGHTLY. This is HUGE. You know how the story continues. He was buried, but did not stay there. Praise God He defeated your sin, walked out of the grave, and made a way for me and you to know true, living, thriving HOPE.

We try to make sense of all the bad in the world, the storms, the deaths, the sickness. Guys, if I sat around and tried to grasp why my dad died, I would live in a very bitter state. Here’s the truth- we live in a bad and fallen world full of fallen people. Therefore bad and fallen things happen. And there’s no refuge good enough to hide you away form that that resides on this Earth.

BUT, GOD

Through Him is a refuge that is secure, unmoved, unscathed by the disasters that take place outside. It might come into your life, but it cannot rock your foundation. With Christ, the victory is secure. The hope is set in place. And there is a sweet refuge found in the arms of our Abba Father. He brings light and shines through the cracks formed in our lives and allows them to become beacons of hope.

Seek refuge tonight, dear friends, in the one that truly keeps you safe.

Abba Father,

Thank you for being my refuge every single day that I wake up to face a new day. The darkness, the fear, the raging seas, mistakes abounding, tears flowing, mountains too high for me to climb, there is a safety, a peace, and a HOPE that is found in you alone. Jesus I praise your name holy name! Thank you bringing light to the broken and hurting places of my heart. Jesus, I pray that those reading this blog as they face pain in their life, that they would seek and find refuge in your salvation. That they would know you in a personal relationship and their lives would change dramatically because of it. I will continue to sing, because the battle has been won and the victory has been secured. You have delivered me, redeemed me, set me free, and promised to keep me forever.

I love you.

Love, Em

Psalm 46

God is our refuge and strength,
    a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
    though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
    though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
    God will help her when morning dawns.
The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
    he utters his voice, the earth melts.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

Come, behold the works of the Lord,
    how he has brought desolations on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
    he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
    he burns the chariots with fire.
“Be still, and know that I am God.
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth!” The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah