Refuge, Not Retreat

In the Lord I take refuge. How then can you say to me: “Flee like a bird to your mountain. When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” – Psalm 11:1, 3 (NIV) 

Almost daily now, our sensitivities and sensibilities are being assaulted with cascading reports of gun violence and human massacre, at home and abroad. 

The barrage of violence functions systemically, not only to inflict bodily harm but psychological intimidation as well. It is designed to cause us to shrink in the face of fear and to retreat into enclaves of tribalism (“Us against them”), isolationism (“I’ve got mine, you get yours”) and nationalism (“Let’s build a wall”). 

When the foundations are being destroyed, God offers us a refuge, not a retreat. It’s a refuge that shelters us from despair and protects us with the faith that no matter how awful the human toll, God’s truth still marches on. 

How else can we explain the Civil Rights workers of the 1960s marching into the jaws of vicious racism in the South singing “We Shall Overcome”? 

How else can we explain why, after the massacre at Pulse nightclub, thousands have continued to gather around the country every summer to celebrate Pride? 

How else can we explain why, in Dallas in 2016, protesters who marched against police violence mourned alongside police after five officers were killed by sniper fire during a Black Lives Matter demonstration?  

This is not the time to retreat into the confines of class and clan. This is the time to reach across every barrier that separates us and find refuge in the quest for justice that makes us all one.  

Prayer
God, in these troubling times, we thank you for being the refuge that keeps moving us beyond retreat.

About the Author
Kenneth L. Samuel is Pastor of Victory for the World Church, Decatur, Georgia.