Refuge & Fortress

Psalm 91:2 "I will say to the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.'"

Definition of Refuge: Shelter or protection from danger or distress

In 2005, one of the worst hurricanes in the history of the United States hit the gulf of Mexico, slamming into Louisiana and it's surrounding neighbors. 1,833 people died in this massive storm. The total cost of damage from Katrina was an estimated 81 billion dollars. The city that took the most damage and deaths was New Orleans, as the levee system catastrophically failed, leaving 80% of the city flooded. The floodwaters covering the city lasted for weeks. These flood waters pushed thousands of New Orleans residents to a refugee center set up in the Super Dome (Where the New Orleans Saints play). The refugees spent weeks of protection in this city, protecting themselves from the flood waters outside. The Super Dome was a shelter of protection from danger outside. The residents that found shelter in this stadium, didn't stay here forever. In fact, when the flood waters resided, they were eager to leave. They were thankful for the protection that the stadium brought, but they did not want to stay there forever. The stadium was only a refuge for them, not a home. 

Christians have a tendency to treat Jesus as just a refuge instead of a refuge and a fortress. It's easy to turn to God when we need something from Him. We tend to run to Jesus when we need help, or when we want forgiveness of our sins, but when the storm has passed, we tend to not give Jesus a second thought during the day. If we do, it's usually because we want to ask Him for something. We treat Jesus no more than the Katrina refugees treated the Super Dome. They were grateful for the time that they had protected from the storm and the flood waters in the stadium, but they left when the flood waters receded. Jesus IS our refuge. We see that in the Scripture above. But Jesus doesn't want to JUST be our refuge. He doesn't want to just be what we depend upon when we are in trouble, He wants to be our fortress as well. 

Definition of Fortress: A large and permanent fortification, sometimes including a town.

In early years of civilization, all big towns would build fortifications around there city. They lived in the fortresses year round, inside theses walls of fortification was their home. They depended on these fortresses for protection. They guarded these walls with their life. These fortifications meant life or death. 

A fortress is a dwelling place. A fortress is the surrounding defenses around a city. It is where you live, everything you need is found in it. Fortresses are where military outposts are found. They constantly are on the look out for the enemy ready to defend their city if they are attacked. A fortress is a place of constant work to continue to fortify your city. God wants to be our fortress as well as our refuge. It's easy to turn to God when we need something from Him, but when we are going good, sometimes God is the last thing on our minds. There are times in life where everything is going good, but God doesn't want us to just sit around and wait until something goes wrong for us to go running to Him for help. He wants us to daily depend on our fortress (Jesus) for help. When everything was going good, people in early civilization didn't just leave their fortified city waiting for someone to attack before they ran back in. No, they lived there even when everything was going good. They still depended on the fortress. They stayed in the fortress so that they could rest easier. They felt secure in the walls of the city. 

When we pray and spend time with God, and desperately depend upon God even when everything is going good, we will find rest in Him. God is longing for us to depend on Him. Don't just seek after God when you want something from Him, or when you sin and you want forgiveness; Seek after God on days that everything is going great, seek after Him on days that everything is going awful, seek after Him when you don't feel like it, seek after Him on days that you do feel like it, seek after Him on days that you are busy, seek after Him on days that you don't want to do anything. Make time to seek after God. Let God be your fortress and your refuge. Desperately depend upon Him in the good and the bad. You, my God, are my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust. Today I may busy, worn out, feeling sick, feeling great, having the worst day ever, having the best day ever, get bad news, get good news, etc. I will seek after you no matter what. YOU ARE MY HEARTS DESIRE. 

Psalm 42:1, "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God."