I can’t speak for anyone else, but the chaos of these past two years has left me with some daunting uncertainties about what the future holds. Of course, we can never know what the future holds. But we usually have some idea of how it will be. For me, it was traveling after retirement, financial security, and living in a nation that looked much like the nation of my childhood.
All the changes, all the disappointments, all the swirling controversies – both here in the United States and worldwide – have left me unsettled. It’s been a real struggle! I went through my Jacob phase, wrestling with God. I went through my Jonah phase, pouting in the wilderness while God patiently extended his grace just a little longer. Now I’m in trying to settle into my Paul phase, finding contentment in every circumstance. I’m learning to surrender my plans to God’s plans.
Sometimes the “fright or flight” instinct still rears its ugly head. I have no reason to live in fear because I have a Savior who loves me perfectly.
There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. (1 John 4:18)
So, I think about running. But where would I run to? Another state? Another country? A desolate island? There’s nowhere to flee from the realities of this broken world. There’s no way to escape, unless God chooses to take me to my eternal home.
Until then, the only safe place to fly is straight into the arms of Jesus.
Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your hearts before Him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah. (Psalm 62:8)
No government or political leader can be counted on for refuge. Neighbors who once sat together on the front porch sipping iced tea have taken to turning each other in for Covid-19 mandate infractions. There are violent clashes between groups with opposing ideologies. Even churches and families are badly fractured.
Do not trust in princes, in mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.
His spirit departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.
Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God.
(Psalm 146:3-5)
Christ is our only hope; not people, not money, not possessions. That’s always been true. Perhaps recent events have just made the truth more pronounced. Living for the things of this world is pointless. That’s always been true, too. Perhaps recent events have just made this truth more pronounced, as well.
If we put our faith in Christ, relying on the sin sacrifice He made on our behalf when He died on the cross (and the forgiveness the sacrifice procures when we repent before our most Holy God) we have an eternal hope and eternal glory to live for. Sometimes I find myself more consumed with how I’m going to get through this mess unscathed than on storing up heavenly treasures.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
(Matthew 6:19-21)
When that happens, when my focus shifts from the eternal to the earthly, God reminds me it’s time to run to Him for refuge. It’s time to hide in the shadow of His wings. It’s time run for me to rest in His unfailing care. He wants you to flee to refuge in Him, too. Trust Him with your whole heart. Even when you face difficult times, you won’t be disappointed.
Trust in the Lord, O troubled soul, rest in the arms of His care.
Whatever thy lot, it mattereth not, for nothing can trouble thee there.
Trust in the Lord, O troubled soul, nothing can trouble thee there.
(Trust in the Lord, Thomas O. Chisholm)
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As a child of God, I am thankful that he can be completely trusted. His promises will always be trustworthy. He is a good God.
That He is!!!