Run and Hide?

Maybe it’s just that I’m old(*er) or that I have experienced more of life, but sometimes I grow fearful.  It’s not just the scare-mongering of the media that makes me want to run somewhere and hide. It’s feeling like I’m stuck in a car barely under control barreling down a winding road at 90 MPH, driven by a fool. The world teeters on the edge of the ‘awful’ with war just a blink from reality.  Those who are supposed lead us into the future turn out to be addicted to their own power, incapable of true leadership.

And then there are the personal challenges that come at us - non-stop. Our friends get terribly ill suddenly.  Our church goes into disarray without warning. Our kids make choices that leave fearful for their future.  Our job becomes ‘iffy’ because of an economic shift.  Our spouse turns into a stranger without explanation. Need I go on?

Knowing just how vulnerable I am in this crazy world, I exercise a limited kind of risk management. I try to reduce the impact that the unplanned and the unforeseen can have on my life and yet I am quite aware that the unforeseen can ambush anyone of us.  At no time did I grasp the limitations of controlling outcomes better than that day in March, 10 years ago, when we received my late wife's cancer diagnosis that rewrote our family history in a few short months. 

You probably have your own story of disasters you never saw coming your way, right? 
Smart people sometimes fail! 
Good people sometimes get cancer!  
Hardworking people sometimes go broke!  
Truth is there is no place in this world to run and hide.

But there is a refuge! The Psalmist describes the threatening world and then declares - "But the LORD has become my fortress, and my God the rock in whom I take refuge." (Psalm 94:22, NIV)   David, a man who knew something about treachery of others and his own dumb choices reminds us of true hope- "The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? … For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock." (Psalm 27:1,5, NIV)

Faith is our anchor.  I’m not talking about the phony ‘faith’  summoned with the ‘right’ words in times of crisis. Nor am I describing the ‘faith’ that tells us that IF we profess to believe the right things or go to the right church or manage to live the right kind of life that we will avoid human pain and suffering. The faith that keeps us from fear is rooted in the Person of God, in the declaration that He is the One who knows the end from the beginning, the way through the darkness, and Who holds our lives in His hands both now and beyond this world.   This true faith knows that unless He is Lord of all, He is not Lord at all.  

The story of Job, one of the more unpleasant books in the Holy Scripture, tells us of a really good man who went through the worst of circumstances.  His faith was shaken to the core. He grew angry with God. He lived with the misjudgements and accusations of friends. And he chose faith - trusting in God-  in spite of evidence that seemed to say that God was fickle and cruel. After pouring out his questions, God spoke, never explaining, but pointing to His majesty and mystery.  Oh that we would adopt Job’s faith which moved him to say “I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer— twice, but I will say no more.” (Job 40:4-5, NIV)  That is not giving up, that is hanging on!

Now the question comes to you and me - will we trust Him with all things? Will we argue for fuller explanations, demand that He make His plans, even for tomorrow, crystal clear? Or will we hear Him say, "Fear not!" and choose to live faithfully, just for today?  Jesus says to us “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn’t like the peace the world gives. So don’t be troubled or afraid." (John 14:27, NLT)

He is Lord of history, Lord of the spirit realms, Lord of both the world and ME.  He asks us to know this about Him- "my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways." (Isaiah 55:8 NIV)  He says"For I am the LORD your God, who churns up the sea so that its waves roar— the LORD Almighty is his name. I have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand— I who set the heavens in place, who laid the foundations of the earth, and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people." (Isaiah 51:15-16, NIV)

Here is His promise to those who choose trust in Him, not a specific outcome but in His eternal goodness.
"God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." (2 Corinthians 9:8, NIV)
"Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" (Hebrews 13:5-6, NIV)

Still want to run and hide?
_________________

(Video of this blog at this link)

Through It All

 I've had many tears and sorrows
I've had questions for tomorrow
There've been times
I didn't know right from wrong
But in ev'ry situation
God gave blessed consolation
That my trials come
To only make me strong

Through it all through it all
I've learned to trust in Jesus
I've learned to trust in God
Through it all through it all
I've learned to depend upon His word

 

I've been to lots of places
And I've seen a lot of faces
There've been times I felt so all alone
But in my lonely hours yes
Those precious lonely hours
Jesus let me know that I was His own

 

I thank God for the mountains
And I thank Him for the valleys
I thank Him for the storms He brought me through
For if I'd never had a problem
I wouldn't know that He could solve them
I'd never know what faith in God could do

 

Andraé Crouch

© 1971 Manna Music, Inc.

CCLI License #810055