safe haven

We all need a safe place to be
A home where we belong
Where there is room for us to rest

To be loved and accepted
To be protected and provided for

Safe from sharp words and cruel judgements
Safe from scorn and shame
Safe from fear and anxiety

safe from crippling insecurity

safe from disappointment and loss

We cannot create or sustain such a refuge for ourselves

You 

You alone are that place

Isaiah 32:2King James Version (KJV)

2 And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

Isaiah 32:1-2(The Message (MSG)

Safe Houses, Quiet Gardens

32 1-2 But look! A king will rule in the right way,
    and his leaders will carry out justice.
Each one will stand as a shelter from high winds,
    provide safe cover in stormy weather.
Each will be cool running water in parched land,
    a huge granite outcrop giving shade in the desert.

You alone are that safe haven

You alone are our refuge

Our hiding place

Our place of belonging

Our home

For now and forever

Praise you, and we take refuge in you

Let you be the wonderful king in my heart

You make us to be that place of refuge for others

a safe haven 

it is a choice of trust

John 14   (International Children’s Bible (ICB)

Jesus Comforts His Followers

14 Jesus said, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God. And trust in me. 2 There are many rooms in my Father’s house. I would not tell you this if it were not true. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 After I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back. Then I will take you to be with me so that you may be where I am.

Don't let your heart be troubled

Don't let implies I do have a choice

Not because of me 

But because of who you are and all that you, Jesus,have done

There is room
There is plenty of room in the Father's heart for me for me

but not just me

for all
An individual place for each and every one

He loves with a powerful deep and eternal love
It is what we long for with our deepest being

John 14The Message (MSG)

The Road

14 1-4 “Don’t let this throw you. You trust God, don’t you? Trust me. There is plenty of room for you in my Father’s home. If that weren’t so, would I have told you that I’m on my way to get a room ready for you? And if I’m on my way to get your room ready, I’ll come back and get you so you can live where I live. And you already know the road I’m taking.”

5 Thomas said, “Master, we have no idea where you’re going. How do you expect us to know the road?”

6-7 Jesus said, “I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life. No one gets to the Father apart from me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him. You’ve even seen him!”

8 Philip said, “Master, show us the Father; then we’ll be content.”

9-10 “You’ve been with me all this time, Philip, and you still don’t understand? To see me is to see the Father. So how can you ask, ‘Where is the Father?’ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you aren’t mere words. I don’t just make them up on my own. The Father who resides in me crafts each word into a divine act.

How do we come to know you as our loving Father? 

As we open our hearts to receive and put our trust in Jesus, we are born anew as children of God

This is why Jesus came to be born as one of us
A helpless and vulnerable baby
To experience every agony that we do 

But also to obey his Heavenly Father

and willingly lay down his life

as a sacrifice for our sins and wrong doing

How can you trust someone you do not know?

Knowing and trusting in Jesus is intimately connected with his words and actions

Trying to understand who he is and what he is doing by looking at the circumstances I find myself in now

is confusing because my viewpoint is limited to the here and now and what I feel

this is no kind of foundation as it fluctuates daily, hourly

He has given us his words as a diving act

to help us to see who He really is

to know what He truly is like

Faith and trust in Jesus Christ are intimately connected with His words

If I want to trust in Him, 

I must be willing to spend time

hearing his words

contemplating them

letting them impact me

seeking to understand them

This is not a quick or easy process

there is much in his words and actions given to me in the Bible

that are upsetting, confusing, perplexing, troubling

But the building of any lasting relationship takes time and such prolonged effort

It is never easy, quick or without difficulties

It is a relationship that He is seeking with us as well

not rules to be followed 

or good principles for a happy life

But a relationship of trust with Himself

I can talk to you 

you are seeking me 

8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father. That is all we need.”

9 Jesus answered, “I have been with you a long time now. Do you still not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. So why do you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I say to you don’t come from me. The Father lives in me, and he is doing his own work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.

Oh Lord I do want to trust in you, 

Help me to see you and know you more

to chose to trust in you, especially when it is not easy at all

to know you as the safe haven 

John 1:12-14  (International Children’s Bible (ICB)

12 But some people did accept him. They believed in him. To them he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They did not become his children in the human way. They were not born because of the desire or wish of some man. They were born of God.

14 The Word became a man and lived among us. We saw his glory—the glory that belongs to the only Son of the Father. The Word was full of grace and truth.

Yes, Lord, 

show us your glory

you are full of grace and truth

praise you