Christ: The Ultimate Refuge
Through God’s grace, I have always grown up in church. I had the privilege of knowing of God and His power ever since I could remember. In fact, there have been many times that He has healed me physically in ways that are absolutely miraculous.
One testimony that truly displayed God’s grace and power in my life was during my childhood. I had always had very sensitive ears and hearing, so much so, that I would get water stuck in my eardrums. This turned out to be very concerning as I could not hear my teachers well during school and was forced to sit at the front of the class. Eventually, it was determined I would need surgery to place tubes within my eardrums for draining. I still remember the morning I was going to the doctor’s office with my parents, an appointment scheduled to determine an exact date for the actual surgery. As we walked to the office, my parents recalled a little 6 year old me insisting I wouldn’t get surgery.
“God is going to heal me,” I kept saying to them.
They encouraged me that that could absolutely happen, but still leaned towards the fact that surgery was the best option. As my parents handed over my x-rays to the doctor, my parents saw a shocked and perplexed expression in his face. “What are you guys doing here?,” he said. “She’s got nothing in her ears.”
All I remember after that is coming out of the doctor’s office, holding my mom’s hand and laughing uncontrollably. It was a giggle that reflected my shock and assurance of my small amount of faith. He had healed me, and there was no doubt or medical explanation for that miracle.
Another instance of God’s power happened when I was 16. I was home alone when I began to hear incessant knocking at the front door. Looking out, I could see a car I did not recognize. I knew someone was at the door while another man was in the driver’s side of the parked car.
Suddenly, I heard the glass of our front door break. As I looked out from the second floor on top of the stairs, I was face-to-face with the intruder.
By the grace of God, the man ran out the minute he saw me, along with his accomplice. I was fueled by adrenaline the entire day after that encounter as I called the police and was surrounded by my family once again. It was only after that very same night, as I laid in bed that I realized what God had protected me from. I could feel His presence comforting me, feeling completely wrapped in His power and protection. I began to sob at the thought of what could’ve happened and the fact that God was nothing short of my refuge that day.
Despite these incredible miracles, as I grew older, I realized there was an underlying sense of guilt in my walk with Christ. For the longest time, I felt like pleasing God meant being perfect.
It meant that I had to check off certain things to gain His favor and to be worthy of speaking to Him in prayer. I had grown up in a culture of legalism throughout my life, thinking that being God’s child meant outperforming others as if you could earn His love somehow.
Piece by piece, Christ began to destroy that notion. As I drew closer to Him…. not just knowing of Him but knowing Him truly, I realized how holy He is and how helpless I truly am without Him. He revealed that it is only by the sacrifice of Jesus that I am made clean. His grace upon my life was not based on anything I have ever done or will do but entirely based on who Jesus Christ is and what He has done.
I began to realize as I sought refuge in Christ alone, and not in my own merit, that the gravity and beauty of His sacrifice is all too clear. As I look back on my daily journey of treasuring Christ more each day, I can see many instances where He truly became my refuge. And through many experiences and true understanding of His word, I realized that none of this is about me at all and instead is all about His glory and power.
Finding refuge in Christ meant that I was truly free from ever thinking I had to earn God’s love. Instead, it has enabled me to treasure Him more each day and live for Him in absolute gratitude.