Take Refuge

Psalm 37:39-40 ESV says, “The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble. The Lord helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him.”

We use the word salvation so much in the church that we might forget that the word means more than what we think of as “being saved” or becoming a Christian. Salvation means being preserved or delivered from harm, so it is a perfectly normal word outside Christianity.

Christians and non-Christians alike regularly look to other things for salvation. Whether putting our faith in the government to bring us through global conflicts, or more trivial like putting our hope in a good TV show to relax us after a long day, we are constantly looking for things that help preserve what we want. This is not necessarily bad, but it can lead us to misplace our trust when it matters most.

When we look at this verse from Psalm 37, we see that the righteous find their salvation in the Lord. They look to God first in conflict and need and wait on him to deliver them.

This takes practice and surrender. In those crisis moments, our true stronghold is revealed. When someone cuts you off in traffic and that anger flares up, our stronghold is in our anger and not in peace. This topic is a tough one. It makes us squirm in our seats when the spotlight is put on our unsurrendered behavior, but this is the only way to become more like Jesus.

Understand that none of us are perfect. Those who seem perfect are probably just not being interrupted enough to expose their deeper need for God. The grace of God carries us through our life-long journey of transformation as we stumble over every roadblock and seek God for more of his presence and truth in our lives.

So what do we do with this prompt today? Some of us reading this will know exactly what I am talking about; others may not have a context for this kind of surrender. Indeed, all of us will encounter an opportunity to confront an area where God is not our stronghold. In response to where you are, or in preparation for where you will be, I want to invite you to open yourself up to the Lord today.

Ask him to show you where you are choosing another stronghold… even a stronghold you feel like you have to choose. Ask God to help you choose him and show you where he is in those moments. Take the time to write down what you are hearing from the Lord, and do not be afraid to reference other scriptures, beginning with the rest of Psalm 37.

I hope you have a blessed Saturday!

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