Our Refuge

In a week of treacherous tornadoes, the word refuge comes to mind.  Our hearts break for those who could not find safe refuge from the storm and for those who found refuge during the storm, but now need a source of refuge as they pick up the pieces in the aftermath.  Thank you for the way you have been lifting the victims up in prayer and for considering supporting Nazarene Compassionate Ministries disaster relief fund (see the link on my or Living Hope's face book page).

The word refuge is common place language in the book of Psalms in the Bible.  The psalmists were the original advocates of what it means to be real in our faith.  Their prayers are raw and uncensored not in arrogance, but in openness. They teach us that the more open we are with God, the more open we are to receive from God. 

For instance, Psalm 31(http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+31&version=NIV) is a tremendously real prayer (I hope you will take a moment to read it.  You can copy and paste the link into your browser if that would be handy). In this prayer the Psalmist is praying about his enemies.  We all have enemies in this life.  Our enemy may be a tornado or a disease or our past or a person.  Enemies come in all shapes and sizes in this life.  What is the name of your present enemy?

If you can identify your enemy by name, then in Psalm 31, you will very likely find someone who understands what you are feeling as you deal with this enemy. Here are some of the phrases that jump out at me..."My strength fails...my eyes grow weak in sorrow...consumed by anguish...forgotten...I am like broken pottery..."  Isn't that how our enemies leave us feeling?  Don't you think tornado victims this week would find solidarity in such language? 

Yes, the Psalmist is very open with God about how his enemy is impacting him personally.  I wonder if the reason some of us sometimes feel like our prayers are not connecting is because we are not connecting with how we really feel.  For example, I wonder if we pray about our enemies in the way we think God wants us to, rather than simply being honest about what is truly on our heart and mind.  The Psalmist gives us permission to tell God what is really going on inside of us; after all, he already knows any how.  The only way we can pray wrong is if we are not real and open before the Father.  So, go ahead, take Psalm 31's cue and tell God what your enemy is really doing to you deep down where no one but the Father can see and understand.  

But then, and this is vital, let your openness with God allow you to be open to God.  As he lets God in on his inner most true thoughts and feelings about his enemy, the Psalmist discovers that God is willing to show up there.  Yes!  Isn't that awesome?!  God wants us to open up so we can be open to him where we are hurting the most.  And once God is allowed into those raw, sensitive wounds, he reveals himself as Refuge.  Read Psalm 31 for yourself.  His discovery of God as Refuge in the face of his enemy is powerful.  It is so powerful that by end of his prayer, he shouts,
22"In my alarm I said,
    “I am cut off from your sight!”
Yet you heard my cry  for mercy
    when I called to you for help.

²³ Love the Lord, all his faithful people!
    The Lord preserves those who are true to him,
    but the proud he pays back in full.
²⁴ Be strong and take heart,
    all you who hope in the Lord."

 

Whether your enemy is a tornado or something or someone entirely different, God wants all of us to know that he wants to be our Refuge.