My Refuge - Part 2
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Hide and Go Seek (My Refuge Part 2)
Hide and Go Seek (My Refuge Part 2)
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
Adam and Eve were created in the tselem צֶלֶם image or shadow of God. As such they had מַחְסֶה mahseh or refuge meaning security or protection. In other words, if there was anything they needed, feared, were uncertain of, whatever it was they could run to the Father.
So why then, when they have disobeyed this most gracious and caring Father, they choose to run and find refuge among trees?
The Psalmist says this about the presence of the Lord:
Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.
Have you ever wondered why it took the Israelites 400 years to cry out to God while enslaved in Egypt?
And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.
Why is it that we will go through trials, struggles, or even when we mess up, the Lord is that last one so many will turn to? If we indeed are His beloved, He should be the first we turn to unlike those who are not.
Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we have an agreement, when the overwhelming whip passes through it will not come to us, for we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood we have taken shelter”;
This is the mindset of the wicked. The ungodly find refuge in lies and take shelter in deceit. Their strength is in the weakness of the flesh. But God has given you strength in the divine, in one who has overcome the flesh, even death.
therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’
Let us learn from God’s words to Ephraim and Jerusalem. There is refuge in the Lord when we live in the covenant He has made with us. We walk in a covenant of life who is Christ Jesus. When you accepted Christ as your Savior you accepted the agreement to make Him Lord of your inner most being not just your Church buddy.
As followers of Christ, your refuge is in truth whose name is Jesus Christ. There is no refuge to be found in the lies of the flesh or this world. There is no shelter to be found in falsely living as a Christ following impersonator.
Remember, Adam and Even were still in the presence of God but they sought refuge from among trees not in the relationship with the Father.
We have too many church goers living among the trees. In Genesis, the word for the trees they used to hide from God comes from the Hebrew root word atsa עָצָה meaning to shut one’s eyes to or to grow hard.
If we take away the vowel points we have the word ‘tsh עצה which means to screw up the eyes or wink.
When we seek refuge in anything other than our relationship with the Lord we shut our eyes to Him and allow opportunity for our hearts to harden. Our perception of truth and God get all messed up. All we can see is lies instead of love. We then find ourselves winking at sin in our lives then taking offense. Next thing we know, we are finding refuge among the trees, the hiding places of the flesh and this world, instead of in the Lord. But that is not you disicples of the Most High.
For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—
The key here is putting all confidence in the Lord so as to have no confidence in the flesh.
A.W. Tozer put it this way, “If I see aright, the cross of popular evangelicalism is not the cross of the New Testament. It is, rather, a new bright ornament upon the bosom of a self-assured and carnal Christianity. The old cross slew men, the new cross entertains them. The old cross condemned; the new cross amuses. The old cross destroyed confidence in the flesh; the new cross encourages it. I'm not afraid of the devil. The devil can handle me - he's got judo I never heard of. But he can't handle the One to whom I'm joined; he can't handle the One to whom I'm united; he can't handle the One whose nature dwells in my nature.”
Where is your hiding place? Are you hiding behind flesh or do you hide yourself in deep longing to please and know Christ more than anything else? The Psalmist put it this way:
You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah
For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.
When you hide yourself in the Lord, all fear is gone; all despair loses it’s hold; all shame falls to the ground. When you seek Him with all of your heart, He will be found. And in Him is fulness of joy; a peace that passes all understanding even in the midst of it all. Seek Him, not just in prayer but in righteousness and humility.
Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the Lord.
In your hour of need or in your day of desperation; through your trials and through your troubles, do not hide among the trees, instead find your hiding place in the Lord and seek Him diligently. Forget not, that there is no refuge like finding refuge in the Lord.