Psalms 90-95 Happy Dependence Day; God is my Refuge

July 1st, Psalms 90-95

       Psalm 91:1-2 Some familiar words...."He who dwells in the shelter of the most high will abide in the shelter of the almighty. I will say to the Lord, my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."

       God is my refuge. I totally get it, the safe place to which one has fled. The part I don't get is the circumstances whereby one is in need of a refuge. It makes me think of a refugee camp. A war or natural disaster that has stripped you of everything you own, maybe everyone you know. You have escaped with nothing but the clothes on your back and the entrance into a refuge camp has you at a point of despair.
       I think of the Lost Boys of Sudan. Willing to walk across hundreds of miles of desert to flee the atrocity of war, just trying to stay alive. No food, no water, no shelter, just hope that something...out there...is better than what I know here.
       Needing a refuge means I am a refugee. It's more true than my American mind is willing to allow. We are in desperate shape and compared to heaven living here is a refugee camp. Maybe the desperation is the crucible of refining moments needed by us for God to create something better. Desperation, refuge, being a refugee are not high on our list of values, in fact we'd do anything to not be there. When was the last time you or I really found ourselves desperate for the hand of God to change something besides our health concerns? Realizing my dependence is difficult in a nation that spends so much time proclaiming independence.
       Maybe desperation is a value missed by us with the competing values of safety and luxury? Maybe God's refining work in us is unable to be done in comfort?!! Maybe valuable work is accomplished in something we consider...of no value? Maybe we should all live in a refugee camp, even if for a short time.