Keep me safe

We can seek refuge in a great many things, such as our bank accounts, but I heard a report just the other day indicating that Americans once reported they felt 'secure' when they were making six figures - today they only feel secure when that 'six figures' is upwards of a quarter-million a year! The average worker goes into a new job interview expecting to make upwards of around $78,000 annually - up $5,000 from the previous year. If we haven't learned by now, our refuge is not in a bank accounts or retirement funds. It is found in God alone - all other 'placement of trust' is like taking refuge in a cardboard box in the midst of a hurricane!

Keep me safe, O God, for I have come to you for refuge. I said to the Lord, “You are my Master! Every good thing I have comes from you.” (Psalm 16:1-2)

Put your trust in money, and you soon find you are spending a whole lot of time and energy working to get money, thinking about money, and talking about how to make or get more money. The one who trusts in God will spend his time and energy building a relationship with God, thinking about God, and talking about God about how to get a bit closer to him each day. Where is it we place our trust? If our sense of security come from something in this world, we are going to find ourselves sorely disappointed when those things ultimately fail us. 

The thing we might miss in this passage is that our refuge actually requires us developing this relationship with God. Following Jesus means we put our trust in him - nothing else. We don't even consider a 'fallback' plan when we are seeking God this way. We see no other alternative 'place' or 'thing' in which there will be any form of 'refuge' (safety, protection, provision). If you think about it, Jesus will the Lord no matter how we think of him. He is Lord above all, but we need to make him Lord of all in our lives. What God looks for from each of us is more than 'lip service' to his rulership over our lives. 

If we don't always feel we have a refuge (that safe place), maybe it is because we have committed our lives to something other than this relationship with Christ. You may have said 'yes' to Jesus, but what do you reveal each and every day in the way you 'use your day'? Is your first attention directed toward him, or something else? Do you find it is the furthest thing from your mind to actually pray and read his Word, or do you long for those times together? Your true 'refuge' becomes apparent when you consider just how much Jesus' grace and presence really mean to you. If you want true safety, seek God first. Your refuge is in him, nothing else. Just sayin!