GOD IS OUR REFUGE

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Leaning on God
There’s a hymn song that goes, 

‘Leaning, leaning,
Safe and secure from all alarms
Leaning, leaning
Leaning on the everlasting arms’

Life has many twists and turns. And as we try to navigate through the twists and turns, often we are faced with various forms of challenges. It is natural for man to seek a place of refuge, a place to hide and a place of support and protection against the worries and troubles of life. 

‘God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.’ – Psalm 46:1

When trouble knocks at your door, where do you run to, who do you call? And where do you hide? People have somehow devised their own places of refuge to shield themselves whenever they are faced with troubles of life. For some people money is their refuge, which often fails. While others have chosen to put their trust in humans and princes and this too fails. Others have turned to alcohol and drugs as an avenue of escape from realities of life. God is our only refuge, a place where we can hide and ever-present help in times of trouble. An ever-present help is something that only God can provide which no one else is capable of providing. 
It doesn’t matter how bad your situation is, how great your enemies are or how fast they are advancing to destroy you or how bad you have messed up in your life, you can always call on the name of the Lord and He will come to your rescue. He will give you the kind of help that you need, He will give you the strength to move on and to overcome your challenges, and most important of all He will give you rest. 

‘The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.’ – Proverbs 18:10

The name of the Lord is something you can always rely on, lean on, depend on and have faith in at all times because it is a strong tower for you and it will provide whatever your need may be. David also recognized the importance of crying to the name of the Lord when his enemies were after him as he writes in Psalm 118:5-6:

‘When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord, 
He brought me into a spacious place.
The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid,
What can mere mortals do to me?’

When you know that God is on your side, what’s there for you to be afraid of? Why worry about anything when you have the Lord Almighty with you?

In another instance, we learn of king Ahaziah who suffered serious injuries from falling from a balcony. He then sought help from Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron enquiring whether he will be able to recover from his injuries. As a result of his actions, God sent a message to king Ahaziah through Prophet Elijah saying, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going out to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?” This was however met with dire consequences for his actions. 

We are discouraged from taking the path that king Ahaziah took whenever we are faced with challenges of this world. The Almighty God should be our first choice, the first place to run to because in Him we will find lasting refuge, freedom, healing, rest and the help that we need. 

The good thing with God is that, He has left the door open such that we can present our case before Him anytime and He would be able to assist, strengthen, protect, encourage, and even offering comfort in our moments of sorrow. It is my prayers that we will always cry to Him with all our hearts and learn to lean on Him at all times. 

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