Refuge
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Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
“Tell the sons of Israel to raise a contribution for Me; from every man whose heart moves him you shall raise My contribution.
“This is the contribution which you are to raise from them: gold, silver and bronze,
blue, purple and scarlet material, fine linen, goat hair,
rams’ skins dyed red, porpoise skins, acacia wood,
oil for lighting, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense,
onyx stones and setting stones for the ephod and for the breastpiece.
“Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them.
“According to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall construct it.
The past week has been a trying week for everyone. We knew a storm was coming and we expected some rain. No one expected over 50 inches of rain. We have never seen this kind of storm. We got rain Friday and Saturday, but then Saturday evening was nice. People relaxed, their was a big fight on tv, they had parties, clueless to what was coming. And then the bottom fell out. In a matter of hours everything changed.
Life is that way sometimes. Everything is going well and then it is out of control. We like to be in control, or at least to think we are in control. We get antsy when we aren’t. I watched people come into the shelter and they had absolutely no control. They didn’t have control over the storm that was dumping rain on them. They didn’t have control over the rising water in their neighborhoods and houses. They didn’t have control over who picked them up or who transported them to the shelter, and when they arrived they didn’t have control over where they were sent in the building. But then we sent them to get dry clothes and something as simple as picking a shirt or a pair of pants let the have a little bit of control.
What do you do when life is out of control? You trust God.
1 God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; 3 Though its waters roar and foam, Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah.
We want to think we are in control, when it is God who is in control. God is our refuge the same way He was Israel’s refuge. He protects us the same way He protected Israel. No matter what rages around us, we can fully trust Him. That means when the storm comes, and it did, we can trust Him even when it doesn’t look and feel good.
There is nothing about Hurricane Harvey that feels good. Homes have been flooded, property damaged and destroyed and precious lives have been lost. Let me be clear, God did not cause the storm, but He can use the storm. What is amazing to me is what we have seen this past week. I have seen God’s people giving and serving in the midst of the storm, not after, but during the storm, they didn’t focus on themselves, but taking care of others.
I watched as church members from this church and around the community, selflessly gave of their time to take care of others. One woman greeted people at the door of the shelter with a loving smile and comforting words they would be okay. Others helped people find dry clothing and a place to get comfortable out of the storm. I saw in this a picture of Christ. Other church members served food, while others prayed with people and brought music to bring peace in the middle of the storm. Churches from Killeen sent truck loads of supplies to our community. This is what the church is, a large family taking care of each others and the community.
God is our refuge and strength. He was, and is, a very present help in trouble. The waters roared. And through it all there were moments that only God could engineer. A 99 year old woman was air lifted by the Coast Guard and brought to us on a backboard. We had no medical staff and another woman, a double amputee, alone, with multiple medical needs was brought in. We didn’t know what we were going to do and up walks a woman who says, “I’m a registered nurse. How can I help?” God moment.
A dialysis patient who severely needs dialysis and the bus evacuating to GRB shows up right on time. God moment. Another dialysis patient the next day who needs to go to DP for treatment. I don’t have a way to set up transportation for people. And then a district employee walks by who is leaving, who just happens to live in DP. Answered prayer, God moment.
We placed needs on Facebook and time and again they were met, some almost instantly. God moments. My favorite God moment is one of the smallest. A friend posted she needed some cleaning products, newspaper and a large collar. Felt silly asking for a dog collar. Daughter, boxes, collar. God moment.
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
I watched as people gave. They gave of their time. They worked all night sorting and folding clothes, meeting needs of those in the shelter, and being willing to do anything they were asked. There were so many volunteers at the shelter we had to turn them away. Good problem to have. People brought clothes until we couldn’t handle any more clothes. Someone had to be posted at the door to turn them away. That is hard, but it is a good problem to have. As I watched people, who were willing to give, leave with their gift I was reminded of a story from after the exodus.
The Israelites had the task of building the sanctuary and they wanted to be a part of what God was doing, so they brought their donations, day after day. Read this with me:
3 They received from Moses all the contributions which the sons of Israel had brought to perform the work in the construction of the sanctuary. And they still continued bringing to him freewill offerings every morning. 4 And all the skillful men who were performing all the work of the sanctuary came, each from the work which he was performing, 5 and they said to Moses, “The people are bringing much more than enough for the construction work which the Lord commanded us to perform.” 6 So Moses issued a command, and a proclamation was circulated throughout the camp, saying, “Let no man or woman any longer perform work for the contributions of the sanctuary.” Thus the people were restrained from bringing any more. 7 For the material they had was sufficient and more than enough for all the work, to perform it.
They received from Moses all the contributions which the sons of Israel had brought to perform the work in the construction of the sanctuary. And they still continued bringing to him freewill offerings every morning.
And all the skillful men who were performing all the work of the sanctuary came, each from the work which he was performing,
and they said to Moses, “The people are bringing much more than enough for the construction work which the Lord commanded us to perform.”
So Moses issued a command, and a proclamation was circulated throughout the camp, saying, “Let no man or woman any longer perform work for the contributions of the sanctuary.” Thus the people were restrained from bringing any more.
For the material they had was sufficient and more than enough for all the work, to perform it.
I have asked before, “What would happen if God’s people gave like they were supposed to?” I would love to walk in one Sunday and tell you, “Don’t write your tithe check this month. We have too much money.” I think that would be front page news. If Christians gave like they were supposed to we wouldn’t need government programs to take care of people. The church would be taking care of them. This thought hit me - Why does it take a disaster for us to pull together and do what we should have been doing all along? If we can do it in a disaster, we should be able to do it when there is not one.
Have you ever seen a youth group do a no bake, bake sale? The idea is instead of baking a cake or cookies and selling them you just donate the money that you would have spent baking the cake in the first place. So, I got to wondering why can’t we have a no hurricane supply drive? We have people who have needs even when there is not a big storm. It would sure give us something better to focus on than what we hear in the news everyday. Shouldn’t we be taking care of people all the time? Not just during holidays and disasters.
As we live our lives, storms will come. If we are grounded on the rock of Jesus Christ we will be able to claim:
1 God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; 3 Though its waters roar and foam, Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah.
Psalm
1 God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; 3 Though its waters roar and foam, Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah.
Once we can claim this we can also agree with Paul as he wrote:
And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance;
and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope;
Phil
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Hurricane Harvey has been a tribulation, we have persevered, we have seen the character of this community and the churches within it. And what we have seen Churches and Christians do in the midst of the storm gives us hope. Hope for a better tomorrow and a better community.
It is this same hope that only comes in trusting Jesus Christ.