My Refuge

By Brookelynn Harper, Fellowship Bible Church, Rogers, Celebrate Recovery Landing Resident and Devotional Team writer

“I am sitting propped up on the door-jam of my closet. I have clothes strewn to my right, a pile of unwanted shoes to my left, books scattered across the floor behind me, laundry on the bed, dishes lined up on the counter to be washed, trash leaning against the wall to be taken out, a shower to be scrubbed, empty boxes that need to be stored away. I have a laundry list of things that I need to get done tomorrow, and I’m only halfway through what I needed to do today.”

This is an excerpt of what I wrote in my prayer journal yesterday, as I was sorting through what was bothering me that day. After I had written it all out, I felt exhausted just from writing it. I blankly stared at what I had written for a good ten minutes. I wanted to laugh. My chores had truly spiraled out of control, and I didn’t know when I was going to be able to get them done.

Now this may be a silly example, but I have had many times in my life where I became overwhelmed. It might be tasks, relationship tensions, or calamities that left me feeling like the rug had been yanked out from under me. A lot of times this feeling of being overwhelmed would make me feel ashamed – in my chores I knew that I could have been doing laundry, but I chose to do something else instead. If not ashamed, it would make me feel guilty – my roommates are going to be angry because I haven’t picked up after myself well. And then I would feel silly about feeling overwhelmed by t-shirts and spatulas, or whatever else had sent me down this spiral.

But this time, I remembered a verse that God has been using to speak to me this week:

Taste and see that Yahweh is good;

blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

Psalm 34:8

Yahweh – the LORD – is good. I had taken myself so seriously and focused on everything that I could have done differently. But I had forgotten what He had already promised me. I am not at this alone.

In Second Corinthians (12:9-10), it says

“And he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, because the power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, rather I will boast most gladly in my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may reside in me. Therefore, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in calamities, in persecutions and difficulties for the sake of Christ, for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.”

With all the little things that I had let overwhelm me, I was feeling weak. How grateful I am that Jesus can work in and through a mess like me! And laundry and shower scrubbing are some of the more amusing things that drag me down – but His steadfastness does not end there. In any difficulty, great or small, I can remember the goodness of God, and be comforted in the taste of it. I can take refuge in Him. And I can know that my weakness only helps to show His perfect power and grace in my life.

And with that renewed knowledge I was able to laugh, finish my prayer, and start sorting clothes with confidence.

Click HERE to listen to "Stand In Your Love" by Josh Baldwin