|
God our Refuge
by naomi Cassata When something frightened me as a child, I would run to mom because that is where I found comfort. I knew I would be safe in her presence. As I get older, I have come to realize that fear does not limit itself to only children. In fact, the older we get, the bigger our fears become, especially when the circumstances surrounding them are out of our control. Our minds begin to focus on our problems rather than entrusting them to God. Fear takes hold. We cant climb up on mommys lap anymore, and yet there is still something inside of us that wants to run and hide from our fears. We want someone much bigger than our fears to hide us, to comfort us and to rescue us. David felt this same way when King Saul was in hot pursuit after him. Imagine the fear that must have gripped David, knowing the head of his nation, military intact, was after his life. Davids most powerful Psalms were written during these times. Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, Until these calamities have passed by. (Psalm 57:1, NKJV) Notice in this passage David is referring to his soul and yet Saul is after his physical life. Wouldnt it make more sense if David cried out for God to slay Saul and then all his problems would be over? A lot of times this is how we pray when we are afraid. God do this or God do that. Where is our trust? If we have our heart focused and trusting in God, no matter what is frightening us, we can rest assure that God will take care of the rest. God isnt looking at what we do physically to grab his attention. He is looking for one thing and it is found here For my soul trusts in You; This is all God requires of us. It seems like a simple and weak term, but in Gods eyes this simple act is the most powerful act we can engage in! Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. (Proverbs 30:5, NKJV) When our trust is placed in God, we are in essence stating not only is God bigger than our fears, but He has the power to deliver us from them. When we are faced with diseases, troubles and let downs, our first response, a lot of times, is to focus on our problem. These things are out of our control and yet we wearily struggle to figure out a way to penetrate them. When we finally realize that we do not have the power, our heart fills with fear. This is the opposite of taking refuge in God and a horrible place to be in. We cant find God in our circumstances if our focus is elsewhere. God is not like us. When we want something we want it now. As babies, this is not an understatement. As we get a little older we are taught to wait, although this is not always done without kicking and screaming. As we reach our adolescent years, we havent gotten much better. In adulthood, we still struggle with the concept of waiting. How many times do we pray about something and days, weeks, months and sometimes years go by and we are still waiting for the answer? Many times. We only see the beginning of the picture and we want to see the end of it. When we dont see the end quickly enough, we begin to doubt God. We wonder if He has really heard us. We may even become bitter. We must remind ourselves that God sees the beginning from the end. Although hidden from us, He sees our deliverances. He sees us healed, restored, made whole and free from all fear, and it is His delight to bring us to that place. But there is a waiting process. This is not a free ride for us, but rather we should continue to trust, find refuge and seek Him whole heartedly. We read here: Truly my soul silently waits for God; From Him comes my salvation. (Psalm 62:1) And again in verse 8: Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. We read from verse 8, to trust Him and to pour our hearts out to Him. This is what it means to find refuge in God. He will never fail you. Jesus still sits on the throne and has already conquered every fear that we face. All He asks is for us to find refuge in Him, and He too will annihilate our fears, so they have no control over us. http://www.lampformyfeet.com/ Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |