Month: August 2022

Refuge

Scripture

In life’s crises, AKA “life-and-death issues,” the truth of God’s Word most plainly stands out. How? Both saints (believers in Jesus Christ, Son of God) and non-saints seem to call out, “God!” Even if people profess not to believe, the event of being most backed into a corner by life’s circumstances, either in the unmistakable bad choices we make or being sinned against by others, the first thing we tend to do is to cry out to a higher power, either reverently or irreverently.

We find many call-outs to God in the Psalms. Psalm 16:1 (ESV) says, “…Preserve me, O God, for in You I take refuge.” Psalm 43:1 says, “Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people, from the deceitful and unjust man deliver me!” Psalm 63:1 says, “A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God; earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh faints for You, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” Psalm 64:1 says, “…Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint; preserve my life from dread of the enemy.” It is not coincidental that many of these Psalms start with verse #1 call-outs and end with exclamation points.

The Psalms also well describe the troubles of the world. Psalm 69:1 says, “…Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck.” Psalm 69:5 says, “O God, You know my folly; the wrongs I have done are not hidden from You.” Psalm 70:5 says, “But I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O Lord, do not delay!”

It is saints who know they belong to God, whom God’s Name is written upon. The sufferings of saints are not omens of the end of their world, but rather are a context to nudge true hope to life and bring it to fulfillment. Saints are refugees fleeing from a fallen world who find refuge in the Lord. Saints are those displaced, vulnerable, degraded, yet affirmed in God’s glory, strength and hope. Dependent on the Savior for the warmth and comfort of eternal life in Him, saints are freed from the slavery of self-sufficiency and right of ownership.

We see in Scripture that being “poor in spirit” is a means to blessedness. Matthew 5:3 gives us this beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Understand, this doesn’t mean poor as in destitute, impoverished, or empty, but rather “poor in spirit” means perpetually conscious of the urgent need for assistance that only God generously and freely promises when we call on Him.

Isaiah 28:16 says, Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am the One Who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’ ” How firm a foundation we have in Christ our Refuge.

The Hymn “How Firm a Foundation” includes this verse: “How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in God’s excellent Word! What more can be said than to you God hath said, to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?” The hymn teaches us to need God’s help and to see suffering as a route He uses to get us there. As refugees, we have fled to the Source of Mercy and have found Mercy. We have fled to the Source of Grace and have found Grace. We have fled to the Source of Truth and have found Truth.

At last, refuge.

Summer Musings

Scripture

There is a little girl who is several months past 2 years old. She is enchanting – not just her sweet little voice, not just her excitement over calling the birds, not just her ginger hair, not just her light-hearted laughter, but her miraculous entry into the world, a world that feels so “heavy and rude.” Our little granddaughter overshadows this “heavy and rude.”

She is a miracle of life, the embodiment of a dream of fatherhood and motherhood, a blessing dropped from heaven, and a great reminder that God is the God of Miracles and is the Gracious God of unspeakable joys. Our youngest granddaughter came to visit for 10 days recently and she wowed us while reminding us of the miracle of life.

Job 33:4 says, “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” Remembering the Creator and His gift of life is easily made mindful when grandparents consider their grandchildren. Proverbs 17:6 says, “Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers.” I am thankful for my 6, soon to be 7, crowns (grandchildren)!

Another summer 2022 snapshot from this week. I am driving my oldest granddaughter to driver’s education and I am wondering where did the time go? Now she’s tall. Now she’s articulate and unafraid. Now she’s a beautiful young adult who loves the Lord. Now she’s dreaming of a future. Now she’s thinking about changing this “heavy and rude” world.

The story doesn’t end with “heavy and rude” in God’s Kingdom. My grandchildren remind me that hope is a living thing only found in Christ. Psalm 65:5 says, “By awesome deeds You answer us with righteousness, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas.” And Psalm 71:5 says, “For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth.”

From the youngest to the oldest, my grandchildren remind me of Faithful God. Hope in Him. Hope for the world we live in. Hope for the future. From the littlest bouncing ponytail-bow girl to the young woman tackling a real estate internship, clad in business casual clothing, on top of a full junior year of courses – I see only hope in both the engine and caboose of my array of grandchildren. I am grateful.

“Heavy and rude” might try to intrude into the world of my grandchildren, but they are becoming part of the world of “delicate and gracious” that overflows out of the hope found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.