Walk of Life, Day 14- December 2020- Thoughts from the Book of Proverbs.
LORD JESUS CHRIST: OUR REFUGE
Proverbs 14:26 “In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge.”
In the old testament we read about the ‘cities of refuge’. These cities were appointed to provide shelter and safety to those who approach to save their lives. If a man kills a person unknowingly, he would be killed by the avenger. So, to protect himself from his avenger, this person can go in to the city of refuge in which he can stay as long as the high priest of that city lived. After the death of the high priest, this person can leave the city of refuge and can go to his own place. We can read about this in Joshua chapter 20.
In the modern days we do not have any such city which would give shelter to a criminal. The person who commits a crime is bound to be punished. In our daily walk of life, we come across many such situations where we find ourselves at the target, and problems like arrows come to hit us. We try to hide somewhere or to run away from the place and reach a place where no one can find us. All we want is to be hidden.
What does a place of refuge symbolize?
Firstly, when a person senses that his life is in danger, the immediate thing that he does is to search for ways to escape from that danger. For example, when a building catches fire, people do not run to gather their favorite things, but they immediately search for an emergency exit and try their best to be out of it. In our daily lives, we come across many such emergency situations. If it were physical then we would have the emergency exits. What if it were a mental, emotional or spiritual emergency? Where do we find our emergency exit?
There are umpteen references in the Holy Bible where we find the Lord Jesus Christ as our refuge.
Whenever we as His children go through rough times, He never lets us pass through it alone. He is always by our side. When the enemy’s darts are too heavy for us to bear, He shields us and becomes our refuge.
Refuge symbolizes safety. When you are in the Lord Jesus, no arrow can strike you. Most of the times, we fail to enter into this refuge and we happen to fight by ourselves. That is why we get hurt. Whenever we disown the Lord Jesus as our refuge, we become vulnerable to the fiery darts of the enemy.
Refuge symbolizes courage. As long as we live in the city of refuge, we need not live-in fear. We can live in confidence and with courage. If you are still afraid to face the world, then you are not living spiritually in the refuge of our Lord Jesus Christ. When you know that God has covered you so that no enemy could touch you, how can you fear?
Refuge symbolizes gratitude. Can we find anything on this earth which is as precious as life? There is nothing equal to our life. When someone saves our things, land or earthly possessions we feel very thankful to them. There is a person who has saved our lives. The reason we are living today both physically and spiritually is because of that person who has been protecting us. How much more should we be thankful to Him? Just imagine, when the person who finds refuge in a particular city from his avenger, what would his attitude be towards that city or the people of that city? He would be so submissive and at every moment he would be thankful towards them for saving his life.
Today as we find ourselves dwelling in the Lord Jesus, our refuge, how grateful should we be? In Him we find our safety. In Him we no longer fear the enemy. In Him we find our strength.
Refuge symbolizes presence of trouble. Above all, refuge makes us realize that a child of God is a no exception for troubles. We do face troubles but we need not be disheartened or discouraged. The Lord Jesus becomes our refuge and protects us from all kinds of harm.
“God does not guarantee us a life free from trouble, but He does promise to be our refuge in the midst of the storm.”- Anonymous
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble therefore we will not fear.” Psalm 46:1
