Devotional Thought of the Day:

¹⁶  Jerusalem, I can never forget you! I have written your name on the palms of my hands. Isaiah 49:16 (TEV) 

5      Lord, we are glad to find ourselves in your wounded palm. Grasp us tight, squeeze us hard, make us lose all our earthly wretchedness, purify us, set us on fire, make us feel drenched in your Blood. And then, cast us far, far away, hungry for the harvest, to sow the seed more fruitfully each day, for Love of you. (1)

I live in a land of earthquakes.  I have friends that live in Tornado alleys, others who live in the normal paths of hurricanes, Where I grew up, snow storms could strand you for a week. Where my first church was located, you could dehydrate so fast that you could die before you knew it.  There are places where there are wars, cities where drugs and gang violence is rampant.

I have come to this conclusion, if you are searching for a safe place to live, there is no such geographical location on the earth.  As long as we are alive, there will be some threat living over us.

Some of us even have those threats inside us, for me, it was a genetic issue that affected my heart.  For others, it may a tendency to addiction.

There can even be problems and threats inside places that should be safe, churches, schools, hospitals.

Is there a safe place?

Where do we go for safety, for refuge, for sanctuary?

Is there a place where we can know peace?

There is a place, rather, there is a person, and the relationship we have with Him, that is our sanctuary, that is our place of refuge, He is our peace.

Even in the worse cases. Consider in the book of Daniel, the three men in the furnace:

¹⁶  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered, “Your Majesty, we will not try to defend ourselves. ¹⁷  If the God whom we serve is able to save us from the blazing furnace and from your power, then he will. ¹⁸  But even if he doesn’t, Your Majesty may be sure that we will not worship your god, and we will not bow down to the gold statue that you have set up.” ¹⁹  Then Nebuchadnezzar lost his temper, and his face turned red with anger at Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. So he ordered the furnace to be heated seven times hotter than usual. ²⁰  And he commanded the strongest men in his army to tie the three men up and throw them into the blazing furnace. ²¹  So they tied them up, fully dressed—shirts, robes, caps, and all—and threw them into the blazing furnace. ²²  Now because the king had given strict orders for the furnace to be made extremely hot, the flames burned up the guards who took the men to the furnace. ²³  Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, still tied up, fell into the heart of the blazing fire. ²⁴  Suddenly Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement. He asked his officials, “Didn’t we tie up three men and throw them into the blazing furnace?” They answered, “Yes, we did, Your Majesty.” ²⁵  “Then why do I see four men walking around in the fire?” he asked. “They are not tied up, and they show no sign of being hurt—and the fourth one looks like an angel.” Daniel 3:16-25 (TEV)
Jesus was there, and in the midst of the the moment, they knew His peace.  They found their refuge.

Daniel Himself knew such opposition,

²⁰  When he got there, he called out anxiously, “Daniel, servant of the living God! Was the God you serve so loyally able to save you from the lions?” ²¹  Daniel answered, “May Your Majesty live forever! ²²  God sent his angel to shut the mouths of the lions so that they would not hurt me. He did this because he knew that I was innocent and because I have not wronged you, Your Majesty.” ²³  The king was overjoyed and gave orders for Daniel to be pulled up out of the pit. So they pulled him up and saw that he had not been hurt at all, for he trusted God. Daniel 6:19-23 (TEV)

A final example, this time Stephen in the New Testament, who was killed, and tortured, and yet…. knew peace, and was in a very special refuge.

⁵⁴  As the members of the Council listened to Stephen, they became furious and ground their teeth at him in anger. ⁵⁵  But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw God’s glory and Jesus standing at the right side of God. ⁵⁶  “Look!” he said. “I see heaven opened and the Son of Man standing at the right side of God!” ⁵⁷  With a loud cry the Council members covered their ears with their hands. Then they all rushed at him at once, ⁵⁸  threw him out of the city, and stoned him. The witnesses left their cloaks in the care of a young man named Saul. ⁵⁹  They kept on stoning Stephen as he called out to the Lord, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” ⁶⁰  He knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord! Do not remember this sin against them!” He said this and died. Acts 7:54-60 (TEV)

Even there, in this midst of death itself, in the moments when all hell is trying to break loose, in what many would never be able to comprehend the existence of peace, there it is.

For the Lord was with the three men! He was with Daniel, He was with Stephen!

And the Lord is with you.

No matter the trauma, no matter the disaster, no matter the threat.  No matter what, we are covered by His blood, sent by Him into these places, to be a beacon of hope, a reminder of God’s love and mercy and peace.  For you need to know and count on this.

The Lord is with you!

and that is why Paul writes to us

⁶  Don’t worry about anything, but in all your prayers ask God for what you need, always asking him with a thankful heart. ⁷  And God’s peace, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus!  Philippians 4:6-7 (TEV)

Amen!

Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 249-252). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.