Where is Your Refuge?

You know, I love Psalm. I read through it a year or so ago, but I have only read a few chapters here and there since then. So boom, last week I decided to enlighten myself and read through it again! I had barely gotten started on the second chapter of Psalm when I read:

“Kiss his son, or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.”

-Psalm 2:12 (NIV)

I paused, and I started thinking back to one of my favorite shows, Godspell. It’s a show about Jesus’s life and the parables he told, and I remember this one scene where everyone has a line that starts with “Blessed are…” To be 100% honest with you guys, I never really liked that part. I was in the show when I was in 6th grade and when I was in 10th grade, and that scene was just never my favorite. I guess it was because it was so repetitive and I knew what was coming, but still. While we’re on the subject though… photo op!

I somehow ended up with those fancy pants braids for both shows. And we had an awesome set.

Anyway.

I was thinking about Godspell, and all the “blessed are”s, and I started to really think into it. I went back to the verse…”Blessed are all who take refuge in him.” Hm. Hmmm. It didn’t quite click with me, so I just skipped over it, hoping it would make sense eventually.

(next night)

“But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you.”

-Psalm 5:11 (NIV)

Does that verse not just sound HAPPY? Yet there it is again - “refuge.” I KNOW what refuge is, but I wanted to look up the actual definition. (If you can’t tell by other posts, I love words and definitions.)

refuge: “a condition of being safe or sheltered from pursuit, danger, or trouble”

Like it says in the previous verse, if we take refuge (or, if we let God protect us), we will be glad! We will rejoice in Him and sing praises and live with no fear! All we have to do is put our faith in Him, trust Him, and let Him do His thing!

But that’s not always easy for us humans, is it?

We like doing things OUR way, and we like handling things on OUR own. Plus, how hard is it to believe in someone we cannot see? That’s the challenge though. Humans trust tangibility. Therefore, there are many different “earthly refuges” that people turn to. Drugs, alcohol, eating, relationships, work, sleep… these are things people turn to when they want to get away from the craziness of their life. Now, some of these aren’t BAD things! We have to eat and relationships rock, but overeating and devoting all of your time to one single person is not good (and obviously, doing drugs and getting drunk are not really great things either). An earthly refuge is anything that pulls you away from God. It is something that you do to feel safe, when really, it should be God.

So, how do we make the Lord our refuge? I found this verse, it may help us out a little bit:

“But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies and those who pursue me.”

-Psalm 31:14-15 (NIV)

We have to put everything in God’s hands, and surrender all of our pride to do that. Earthly refuges do not even compare to His unfailing love, so once we give up our earthly desires for Him, we will be rewarded and we will be glad! We can sing “Awesome God” literally for the rest of eternity. YES. But look back at that verse really quickly... it says "my times are in your hands." Replace "my times" with whatever your earthly refuge is, and there's your answer. THAT'S how we make Him our refuge! We have to put everything in His hands, no matter how difficult it is, and trust that His ways and His plans are greater than ours. It kind of makes me think of a picture I saw the other day.

Where are you going to feel sheltered from trouble in your life? Where is your refuge?

“O Lord my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me.”

-Psalm 7:1 (NIV)

Here are some other verses about refuge that I’ve jotted down while reading. I’m haven’t finished the entire chapter, so this is not a complete arsenal of verses in Psalm about refuge! Just food for thought.

Psalm 9:9-10

Psalm 16:1-2

Psalm 17:7

Psalm 18:2

Psalm 18:30

Psalm 25:20

Psalm 31:2

Psalm 31:19

Psalm 34:8

Psalm 37:7

Psalm 46:1

Maddy's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

I never got a chance to read or see Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, but I’m pretty sure it went a little like my day yesterday. Before I tell my tale, I want everyone to know that I have a philosophy:

Every day is a really good day unless something happens to make it bad. Then, it’s just a good day. After something else bad happens, it’s an “okay” day. But for me to call it a BAD day… yikes.

It’s March 18, 2015.

I wake up at 6:40 (sweating and flustered) from a dream about some craziness that has happened at school lately. It was one of those that you think is real, and you wake up actually mad at the person that made you mad in the dream.

I get ready, hop in the car, and make it to school. I had already been pretty stressed about a situation that happened earlier this week, so that was on my mind. I get to first period and we had to read out of the textbook, and I could NOT comprehend. No matter how hard I tried, I could not understand what I was reading. It was incredibly frustrating, and I was getting angry with myself. About 20 minutes after that, another incident happened that destroyed my trust for someone, which added an ounce more stress to my morning.

I arrive to enhancement, and one of my UNG froomies (future roomie) texted me to tell me about a housing situation we were having. I logged onto the website, tried to figure out how to fix the issue, but there was no way until another froomie could get to her computer. On top of that, when the froomie called UNG, the lady who answered was very uncooperative and was not answering questions, so we were basically on our own.

Next was second period. Nothing much happened here, thank goodness. I lost the back to my earring, and that kinda bummed me out. Other than trying to communicate with the froomies and figure out our plan, AND try to listen to Coach Steele review over our unit test, no more stressors were added.

Third period came. Lunch was good, but the actual class, Forensics, was a headache and a half. We were trying to solve a robbery case, and I could not remember one thing. If you know me, you know my memory dwindles every day, but today was exceptionally bad. I couldn’t remember the words I was about to write, the evidence we had collected, what I was supposed to be measuring or looking at with the evidence, or even how to spell words - AND I LOVE SPELLING. I actually tried to write the word “suspect” a good 7 times, but I could only write “sample.” The closest I got was “sumple,” until I had to get my partner, Ally, to say each letter out loud to me. The same kind of thing happened about 4 more times, and my brain was basically done for.

Later, I logged onto Virtual School, and sure enough, I couldn’t figure any of that out either. I couldn’t find the research I was supposed to track down, the links I was given wouldn’t work, and I still didn’t finish. It was time to go to work though, so I loaded up in my bug and headed for Lavonia.

I got to work, and I was supposed to be looking for two employees’ outfits for the fashion show we are having, and send the brands to the lady making the write-up - SNAPS, I still haven’t done that…. the fashion show is tonight. Oops. I’ll be right back.

Anyway, I could NOT find the dresses! I looked all in the back, everywhere, for a good 30 minutes. Eventually, I found them right next to the door… after I had passed them a billion times. I tried on the sandals that were brought, and of course there were none in my size so they are all too small! I still had to find my own outfits for the fashion show, as well, so I was trying to get that together at the same time. I’m at an awkward size right now, because I’ve randomly lost weight so I’m now a small in some dresses, as well as a medium (like before). So after trying on about eight dresses, I finally found two that fit!

After all of that was out of the way, Mrs. Susan came in with a bag from Empire South (the store in Watkinsville). Earlier, someone had texted me to tell me to take home the bag Mrs. Susan was bringing, and she would come by and pick it up from my house. Well, I WATCHED her bring in the bag that said “Empire South,” WATCHED her write the girl’s name on it that I was supposed to be bringing it home for, and WATCHED her put it under the counter for her. Did I grab it?

No. No I did not.

A little while after that, our manager called and asked us to do inventory for certain shirts we carried. I counted the shirts in the front, and the other guy counted the shirts in the back. I was starving, so I was going to run out to my car and get some Doritos, but I didn’t want anyone to come into the store while he was in the back. So I waited, folded a few stacks of shirts, took care of some close-down duties, and at 5:59, my coworker was still in the back. I went back to make sure he was alright, and he still had quite a few shirts left to count. I helped him count the rest, and at 6:30 I remembered: “OH NO. I WAS SUPPOSED TO MEET JARED AT HIS HOUSE AT 6:15 TO GO TO CHURCH. AND I STILL HAVEN’T EATEN.”

We left at about 6:35, I ran (not literally, I actually drove) through the McDonald’s drive thru, then headed to church. Well, as soon as I pulled up, I remembered we were having a surprise baby shower and there was food. But, it was ice cream cake. So all the stress went away for about 30 minutes. Then, I remembered the BAG that I was supposed to bring home from work. So, Jared drove Maddy back to the store...

Next, we went to Jared’s. I wanted to show him my outfit I was wearing for the fashion show, so as I leaned in to grab the dresses, I made a hole in my headrest with the hangers (I don’t know how, but I did). When I leaned back out, I slammed my back into a pole I had been parking next to. Once we got inside, I was walking to the bathroom when Jared jokingly says, “Don’t break anything in there!” Of course, I immediately proceeded to accidentally slam a can of air freshener on the floor. It didn’t break though, but it provided some giggles nonetheless. I unloaded all of my complaints to Tammy, let Jared hear them for the 3,000th time, and petted Charlie (the dog, not a person. Don’t worry).

To end my fabulous day, the personal problems, and the random problems… the car in front of me on the way home threw an empty trash bag out of their sunroof, and it landed on my windshield. I couldn’t see. But that’s okay.

So… that was about it. I know that all the adults are going to read this and say, “Wow, she thinks she has it bad now. Wait until she gets in the real world!”

I know. My whole generation knows! Our problems are so minuscule compared to everything adults have to go through, but you know? I think on days like I had today, on days when it’s all the tiny things that continue to pile up, those are the days when God is testing our faith a lot! He knows what we can handle. I feel like that’s one reason why some teenagers don’t have HUGE problems like adults. Adults have so much experience with “life,” and they can take it on. But I’m not saying some teenagers don’t have huge problems. They do.

Have you ever noticed a kid or teenager who didn’t have the best home life? Or they may not have all of their basic needs on hand? For some reason, a lot of these kids have to go through even MORE hardship than the kids (like myself) who have grown up in a happy home and are provided everything they need. To me, God knows that the kids with the tougher lives are stronger, and they can handle more. So He gives them more, to continue to make them stronger.

Me?

I can’t even take a trash bag landing on my windshield.

God knows our limits, and He knows what’s going to make us stronger in the long run. He has a PERFECT plan, and every good day, okay day, and terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day is a part of that plan. That’s why when I sat down to read my Bible last night, He made everything that has ever happened in my life take me to THIS page, with THIS reminder on it:

And yes, I did already start on this blog. And yes, it did already have this title.

As I sit here in enhancement, I realize that I am super lucky.
Luckily...

-I realized the dream was much worse than the situation will actually be.

-I didn’t get called on to answer a question from the textbook.

-I found myself praying for forgiveness for person whom I lost trust in.

-The froomies and I JUST got our housing situation fixed (literally 5 minutes ago).

-I only lost the back to my earring, not the actual earring.

-Coach Steele gave us a word bank.

-Ally and I solved the case in Forensics today (it was Otis).

-I finished my Virtual School project today and it all made sense.

-I found my fashion show outfits.

-I also found everyone else’s.

-I got the bag of jewelry from the store and the girl now has it in her possession.

-Inventory is DONE.

-The ice cream cake was rockin’.

-I fixed the hole in my headrest.

-My back is used to getting injured, so it was immune to the pain.

-The air freshener smelled awesome.

-I am writing this blog, which means the trash bag didn’t make me wreck!

-I have an incredibly patient boyfriend.

-And his mom is patient.

-So are my parents.

-And so is everyone else who listened to me gripe yesterday.

And overall, I have a pretty great God who listened to my hourly prayers/whines.

Oh, and I can’t forget…

Luckily, THESE exist.

“Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident.”

-Psalm 27:3 (NIV)

Fuel Up

What is church? For a while, I had been looking at it as a place where I went every Sunday, played with kids, sang fun music, listened to a sermon, and headed on out to Zaxby’s. I didn’t look at it as unnecessary, exactly, but I looked at it as a routine that I would tend to just go through the motions. Church is a wonderful thing to have in your routine, of course! But when you forget what church really is, your relationship with God deteriorates.

At youth last night, we were supposed to be talking about Nehemiah, but we ended up sharing stories about instances where we had to have faith in God, or instances where we struggled to have faith in God. It was an awesome discussion, and it took up a solid 45 minutes. We were all sitting in a circle, listening to each other, and encouraging each other. I think everyone (along with myself) was just overwhelmed by the sense of security between our fellow high schoolers and our teachers! It was such a comforting feeling.

On the way home, the song “Redeemed” by Big Daddy Weave came on the radio. It says,

“I am redeemed, You set me free.

So I’ll shake off these heavy chains,

Wipe away every stain, now I’m not who I used to be.

I am redeemed.”

I was thinking about the word “redeemed.” By definition, it means to compensate for the faults. I don’t know about you (especially because I have a strange love for words and definitions and synonyms), but that is a beautiful definition! God redeemed us, he compensated for our faults.

"For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."

-Colossians 1:13-14 (NIV)

I continued to ponder that thought, and I came to the realization: I have so many faults, it’s ridiculous. I think it makes me feel like I won’t have the answers to the questions people may ask me about Jesus, and that scares me. Therefore, I won’t speak up and share His love, and I lose an opportunity. I think that makes me feel like when I read my Bible, I won’t have the understanding needed to let what I read sink in. Therefore, I don’t put 100% effort into Scripture.

The truth is, is that I don’t have all of the answers and I can’t understand everything in the Bible… without Him.

“Hey God, it’s me again... Maddy. ‘________’ is giving me vibes that I need to tell them about You. I don’t know what to say, so I’m asking you to give me the words to say… or this may turn out ugly. Oh yeah, while You’re here (even though you’re always here, HA HA), I didn’t understand or take in one word of what I read last night. I’ll read it again tonight, please bring me some sort of comprehension!”

In the words of my boyfriend, “I think God has a sense of humor.” So I’m not going to say I DO word my prayers in the manner of the previous one, but I’m also not going to say I DON’T word my prayers like that… Anyways, I’ve found that prayer REALLY does work (who’da thunk it), and to me, that’s just amazing. A God that you can talk to, lay all of your problems down, and He gives you peace from it!

Church also does wonders. As I was listening to that song (you know, the one I mentioned 30 minutes ago until I went off on a small tangent), I time traveled back to sitting in the circle at youth when Shane told us that we can back up our God even more if we KNOW the Scripture (remember this!).

I’m not going to lie to you people, I zone out a LOT reading my Bible. It truly does take focus and concentration, and I don’t always have that. But during the times when my mind is in the zone, and I am completely invested in Scripture, OH, HOW WONDERFUL I FEEL! I try so hard to have that every night, but the desire doesn’t always come.

Do you guys ever have that problem? If so, it’s your lucky day! I’ve found a little trick that works... It’s going to BLOW your mind. It’s something you would never expect…

CHURCH.

Okay, so I was being a bit facetious. But after going through the motions of church every week, it truly does become second-nature. That’s not a good thing. Church is a place to get together with other believers and worship the Lord, learn more about Him, and grow closer and closer and closer. Sometimes, the devil creeps in and makes me think, “I don’t understand why I have to wake up at 8:00 when I can just do this at home! Just give me the verses and I’ll go at it.” Sure, I can read at home and I SHOULD. But if I read at home and start zoning out like usual, then there’s no point. I need to comprehend or I won’t know God anymore, and referring to what Shane told us… I won’t be able to defend Him when someone asks me questions or tells me I’m wrong for believing in Him.

Think of yourself as a car. I like to think that I would be Lilly, my little yellow bug. What do cars have to have every 130 miles or so? GAS! If a car runs out of gas, it can’t go anywhere. It’s the same way with church… if we don’t go to church, we can’t fuel up, and we can’t go anywhere. We can’t grow. Church is necessary, it rejuvenates our desire for the Lord, which gives us a desire to do other activities! Pray, read our Bibles, forgive someone, worship, help others out, anything! It “re-juices” us, and we are ready to take on life with a Christ-like attitude.

Being surrounded by people who love the Lord, love you, and are supportive of each other can influence your attitude like nothing else. Church is a place where you can let loose, learn, lead, and love! My outlook on church is much different after this realization, and I hope yours is, too, if you were like me and were just going through the motions. Let’s all take church to a whole new level! After all, we are REDEEMED, right?

We all have faults, so let’s get to know the One who compensated us!

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
-Galatians 2:20 (NIV)