Fleeing in times of trouble

Fleeing

Posted on by Betsy

Many of you made nice comments about my recent picture of my writing partner Georgia, so today I thought I would share a Georgia story. When she was a younger girl and her hearing was intact, she was absolutely terrified by fireworks. Georgia is not bothered by storms, thunder, Nor ’easters, hurricanes, etc, but when that high whine of something about to explode happens, she takes her 100lb. body and tries to find the smallest place of safety in the house. We have spent many a July 4th huddled with her in the kneehole of the built-in desk of our guest room. On New Year’s Eves in the past, my husband has had to sit with her on the laundry room floor until the jubilation was finally over. Georgia will turn 15 in a few weeks and one of the mixed blessings of aging is that she is now completely deaf. Guess what? We had the most peaceful New Year’s Eve last week. The fireworks in our neighborhood went completely unnoticed by her, and for that, I am grateful. And by the way, dogs can figure out DSL (Dog Sign Language) pretty quickly, especially when you are announcing that dinner is ready.

Where do you go to escape? When the cacophony of stress threatens to deafen you, when your eyes have seen more tragedy than joy, when your heart breaks with the absence of your one true love, where do you flee?

I hope you flee to God. I pray that you know that in any circumstance, God is a sound-proof rock cave that can withstand any type of assault … whether it be physical, emotional, relational, or spiritual.

Listen to how the psalmist put it:

Psalm 71 (Common English Bible)

I’ve taken refuge in you, Lord.
    Don’t let me ever be put to shame!
2 Deliver me and rescue me by your righteousness!
    Bend your ear toward me and save me!
3 Be my rock of refuge
    where I can always escape.
You commanded that my life be saved
    because you are my rock and my fortress.

4 My God, rescue me from the power of the wicked;
    rescue me from the grip of the wrongdoer and the oppressor
5     because you are my hope, Lord.
    You, Lord, are the one I’ve trusted since childhood.
6 I’ve depended on you from birth—
    you cut the cord when I came from my mother’s womb.
    My praise is always about you.

I don’t know what is about to explode in your life right now, but I do know where you can go for shelter. God’s power is available to deliver you and save you from all manner of evil, slander, wickedness, oppression, and harm. And explosions.

Flee to the Rock, and you will find hope.

Ready to Flee by Kathy Schumacher

Running For Your Life

Posted on by Betsy

By the time you read this, Hurricane Helene will have made landfall in the Florida Big Bend area. It is forecast to be a major storm and my heart goes out to everyone in its path. A Florida weather person that I follow had to flee from his home as it gained strength and speed. I am sure that everyone who has evacuated is watching and waiting in dreadful anticipation as it approaches.

Have you ever had to run for your life? I’m guessing that with the exception of the military and first responders, most of us have never been confronted with a situation that was so life-and-death threatening that we literally had to run. I have run for the train, run for an elevator, I have evacuated my home during a Cat 5 hurricane warning, and even run a half marathon. But I consider myself blessed that I have never had to run for my life.

As a child, I had persistent dreams that I was in some life-threatening situation where I had to run, only to discover that my feet were cemented to the street. Have you had that dream? These dreams involved oncoming tornadoes, War of the World alien intruders, or some other terrible thing. When the threat appeared, I would look down at my feet and realize that I was stuck to the ground, unable to flee.

I think that while most of us have probably not been in any physical danger that would cause us to run, some of us may struggle with mental or emotional threats that leave us feeling paralyzed. I know a woman who is so paralyzed by her anxiety and subsequent paranoia that she has retreated to a place on the opposite coast from her family and cannot engage with them. Some fear tells her to keep running from any relationship with them. In her mind, even the smallest interaction would entangle and trap her.

Fears like this are as real to the person as an actual tornado coming down the street.

Our story today involves the great prophet Elijah at a time when he had to run for his life:

1 Kings 19 (Common English Bible)

19 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, how he had killed all Baal’s prophets with the sword. 2 Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah with this message: “May the gods do whatever they want to me if by this time tomorrow I haven’t made your life like the life of one of them.”

3 Elijah was terrified. He got up and ran for his life. He arrived at Beer-sheba in Judah and left his assistant there. 4 He himself went farther on into the desert a day’s journey. He finally sat down under a solitary broom bush. He longed for his own death: “It’s more than enough, Lord! Take my life because I’m no better than my ancestors.” 5 He lay down and slept under the solitary broom bush. 

Elijah did what we need to do when we feel threatened: He got to a safe place and called on the Lord. Even though he felt he was at the end of his life because of the enormity of this threat looming over him, he knew to first call on God. 

And God answered:

Then suddenly a messenger tapped him and said to him, “Get up! Eat something!” 6 Elijah opened his eyes and saw flatbread baked on glowing coals and a jar of water right by his head. He ate and drank, and then went back to sleep. 7 The Lord’s messenger returned a second time and tapped him. “Get up!” the messenger said. “Eat something, because you have a difficult road ahead of you.” 8 Elijah got up, ate and drank, and went refreshed by that food for forty days and nights until he arrived at Horeb, God’s mountain. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night.

This story is a beautiful reminder that whenever we feel so threatened that we have to run, God is always there to provide safety, sustenance, and strength for the journey. Elijah received the ministrations of an angel and was given fresh baked flatbread and water … twice. God will provide what we need even in the worst circumstance if we remember to run toward him as we run away from the threat.

Are you running away from something? What are you running toward? When real threats come into your life, safety is the first concern. And remember that God is in every circumstance, running alongside of you until you reach safe harbor.

God is Our Safe Harbor by Michelle Robertson

Peaches’ Bone

Posted on by Betsy

We have a staff dog named Peaches at my church. She is a little mixed breed who is always happy to see us as we come through the door. (Except for one staff member, who keeps threatening to send her to the pound. We think he’s joking, but Peaches isn’t taking any chances.) She barks until she ascertains that you belong there; then she offers her small, warm tummy for free rubs.

Peaches attends staff meetings, and it’s good to have her there if the conversation gets tense, WHICH OF COURSE IT NEVER DOES BECAUSE WE ARE A CHURCH STAFF. (OK, well hardly ever.) She goes around the room as we talk, and helps herself to a piece of the couch that seems the friendliest. Soon enough, the staff member seated there will find themselves with lap full of Peaches. There is nothing better in a meeting than the warmth of a happy little dog.

Peaches has taken to hiding her bone in the chair in my office. My office is located in the back of the building, farthest from the busy front area. I discovered her hiding place one Sunday when I was meeting with a prospective church member. I was focused on greeting him, and when I sat down, I did not expect a sharp poke in my lower back. It was a Princess and the Pea moment. As I dug through the back of the cushion, I discovered Peaches’ bone. Now I look before I sit. I’m not sure who Peaches is hiding her bones from, as nobody on the staff really wants one. But Peaches understands the value of a good hiding place.

Psalm 27

One thing I ask from the Lord,
    this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
    all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
    and to seek him in his temple.

5 For in the day of trouble
    he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent
    and set me high upon a rock.

It is good to know that on the day of trouble, God is our hiding place. He will keep us safe from harm in his dwelling. He will set us upon a high rock where we can spot trouble coming from a long way off.

Worship happens in the house of the Lord in places commonly referred to as sanctuaries. For one hour a week, God offers a place of refuge and respite from the trouble that the world gives. We have a brief sabbath from the normal routine when we get to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and hopefully think of nothing else.

As important as that one hour is, God’s dwelling is everywhere, and the shelter of his sacred tent is available at any moment of any troubled day. HE is our hiding place. When we open scripture or go to him in prayer, we enter into his temple, where peace and safety abide.

What is troubling you today? What do you wish to hide from so that you might catch your breath and regenerate? When hard times come, it is good to know where to turn. God is your rock, your salvation, and your 24/7 sanctuary. Flee to him in your time of trouble. His door is always open.

Peaches and Her Hiding Place by Amy Berge