Good morning all! What beautiful sun out there today!
Today’s scripture: Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16
You who sit down in the High God’s presence,
spend the night in Shaddai’s shadow,
Say this: “God, you’re my refuge.
I trust in you and I’m safe!”
spend the night in Shaddai’s shadow,
Say this: “God, you’re my refuge.
I trust in you and I’m safe!”
Yes, because God’s your refuge
the High God your very own home,
Evil can’t get close to you
harm can’t get through the door.
He ordered his angels
to guard you wherever you go.
If you stumble, they’ll catch you
their job is to keep you from falling.
You’ll walk unharmed among lions and snakes,
and kick young lions and serpents from the path.
“If you’ll hold on to me for dear life,” says God
“I’ll get you out of any trouble.
I’ll give you the best of care
if you’ll only get to know and trust me.
Call me and I’ll answer, be at your side in bad times;
I’ll rescue you, then throw you a party.
I’ll give you a long life,
give you a long drink of salvation!”
Yesterday I wrote about love in the world because of Valentines Day and today’s Psalm is a different kind of love letter to us in direct response to our fear. In the face of our fear of not being safe and protected we are given these words of God being our refuge. For this Psalmist, God is our protection. No need to worry about evil around us because we have God and God wins in the face of fear. How often do we actually live that out? Do you have a refuge that you run to in the face of fear?
As I was thinking about this and about how much our fear is played off in society, I looked for pictures of refuge by googling “refuge” and looking at images….I found the typical old building pic…
and of course the natural pics that relate to the Psalmist on the natural world connection…
Then some folks had even taken pics of their home…
All of these places have a connection to the world and not to a thing or consumerism. I thought about right now, what would I consider a refuge and a safety? I thought about my day yesterday…it was full of connections with people. I had breakfast with one of my best friends and saw some people in town that we knew. I went into the church office and was overjoyed to see an employee that is making his way back from surgery. He and our office manager and I had a great time catching up. I chatted with people who came into the church. I met for coffee with someone who I got to know a bit better and it was lovely. I then met up with my co pastor and we took a lovely walk to a new space to meet new people and see beautiful pottery. As we were leaving, someone else from town yelled hello out of her car and upon telling her about the pottery she turned her car around and went to the space. I returned home to do more work before I leave tomorrow and when I looked in my mail slot there was a note from my postman who is also a member at the CoOp about a vision and dream. And I thought…I love this space that I dwell in now. It is full of connection and relationship, not fear and critique. It is a space full of where we lift others up and find pockets of ministry and connect to the world…not a space of isolation and fear. This, today, is my refuge.
So where is yours?
Peace,
Courtney
Living in Violet 