The reason I come up with this title is because one day my wife and I had a heated argument and I went away as I did not want to get into a quarrel with her. Then she said that I was like a coward who always ran away from problem. My wife is not a strong believer even though she had water baptized. She depends on self-effort while I detest self-effort but depending on the Lord completely. The reason I ran away from heated argument is because I did not know what to do or say, and my heart would be troubled so I escaped from the situation and would hide myself in the Lord; trusting Him to handle the situation for me.
Sometimes my wife would acknowledge her bad temper and I know that it is the Lord who had spoken to her even though she may not know it. To some Christians, my action might seem like a coward and not a man. Most believers like to take control of situation and deal with it themselves, but I am different. I detest dealing problems on my own and I would always escape by calling upon the name of Jesus.
What is your normal response when you face a problem, especially tough ones? Do you tell yourself to be strong and not to run away from problem and be determined to solve it? Or do you just run away and not think about it because it is causing you to worry and feel anxious, and cry out to the Lord for help?
Let’s look at what the bible says. I love to use Moses because it is God the Holy Spirit who brought to my attention that whenever Moses met a problem, he would cry out to God and never tried to deal himself. Before Moses met Yahweh, he would settle things by his own strength. In Exodus 2, when Moses saw one of his people was beaten by an Egyptian, he killed the Egyptian and buried him. And when he saw his people fighting, he tried to meddle and stop the fight, but he was reprimanded by one of them.
Moses fled after Pharaoh heard of him killing an Egyptian. He hid for 40 years then the Lord appeared to him (Acts 7:30). After Moses met the Lord, he was transformed and he learned not to depend on his human effort but on the Lord’s power. Whenever Moses met with challenge, he would call upon the Lord. It is written in Exodus 5:21-22 And they said to them, “Let the LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.” So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me?
After Moses confronted Pharaoh the first time telling him to let the children of Israel go, Pharaoh did not but he increased their workload. And then the children of Israel complained to Moses, and his response was to call upon the Lord. It is Moses’ habit to call God for help whenever he was in need or facing any issue in life. When the children of Israel came to the Red Sea with the army of Pharaoh chasing behind them and the children of Israel complained to Moses again, and then he cried out to God.
It is written in Exodus 14:15 And the LORD said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward.” Moses never stopped crying out to the Lord since he met Him. Whenever the children of Israel complained to Moses, he would always approach the Lord for solution; crying out to the Lord due to bitter water (Exodus 15:24-25), crying to the Lord when the people wanted to stone him for no water (Exodus 17:1-4) and many more.
There’s another man in the bible that also depended on the Lord and God raised him to be the king; it is David. He would also call upon the Lord whenever he was in trouble; he didn’t trust human effort. David mentioned that it was the Lord who delivered him from the lion and bear when he protected his flock (1 Samuel 17:37), and he believed that the Lord His God would also deliver Goliath (who defiled the armies of the living God) into his hands. Although Saul was anointed as king, but he had forgotten about the LORD his God as he trusted human efforts because he saw his enemies’ human strength was greater than everyone in Israel. But David knew if he depended on human strength, he would never win. However, he knew his God would protect him from all harm as He promises in the scripture that Israel is His people. You can find in the Psalms written by David how he described the Lord being his refuge.
What are your thoughts when you encounter a problem? Do you try to think what you can do? Or your first thought is calling upon the name of Jesus Christ? I have made a habit to call upon the name of Jesus Christ even for the slightest problem. For example, if I forgot where I placed something I wanted to find, I would always ask the Holy Spirit to remind me or help me to find. There’s another example, when my friend asked me what was the date she passed me the Hebrew Bible, I forgotten but in my heart I asked the Lord to help me to remember. Then the Lord reminded me of an event and I text her then she told me she remembered.
It is a good thing to cultivate the habit of calling upon the Lord and run away from problems (never try to handle problem yourself without calling upon Jesus). I shall show you bible verses that call us to come to our Lord because it is written that God is our refuge and strength.
It is written Psalm 9:9 The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, A refuge in times of trouble. (Psalm written by David)
Psalm 46:7, 11 The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah (Psalm written by the sons of Korah)
The word ‘refuge’ (in Psalm 9:9 and Psalm 46:7, 11) is misgab in Hebrew which means defense or high tower. It also means impregnable retreat and impregnable means unable to be captured, broken into, defeated or destroyed; means it is unassailable. This means Jesus our Lord is our impregnable retreat where we can hide ourselves from all problems and troubles, and no trouble is big enough to destroy us.
It is written Psalm 14:6 You shame the counsel of the poor, But the LORD is his refuge. (Psalm written by David)
Pslam 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. (Psalm written by the sons of Korah)
Pslam 62:8 Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah (Psalm written by David)
Psalm 91:2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” (Psalm written by Moses because Psalm 90 was written by Moses and there’s no indication who wrote Psalm 91)
The word ‘refuge’ (in Psalm 14:6, Psalm 46:1, Psalm 62:8 and Psalm 91:2) is machaceh in Hebrew, and it also means a shelter. Whenever you meet a storm in life, come to Jesus Christ as the shelter for you so that you shall never be struck by lightning; this means you will not be hurt at all by any storm in life. Just like the storm that happened when Jesus and His disciples were in a boat and He was sleeping. Nothing bad happened to them and Jesus still the storm for His disciples’ sake. This is recorded in Matthew 8:24-26, Mark 4:37-39 and Luke 8:22-24. Although the disciples said they were perishing, but it is only recorded that the boat was covered with waves, and it is not recorded that the boat was sinking or about to be capsized. It is recorded by Matthew and Mark that it was a great windstorm. A great windstorm can cause even a big ship to be capsized but the boat Jesus was sleeping in, it would never be capsized or sink. The disciples were safe in the boat with Jesus being their refuge.
And what happened when they called upon Jesus? He provided a shelter for them by stopping the storm and a great calm came (Mark 4:39). This is what shall happen to you when you call upon the Lord for whatever problem or any issue in life, He shall cause a great peace in your heart so that you shall be at rest in your heart and mind and then witness His saving grace to be at work for you.
I would like to explain Psalm 46 because two different Hebrew words for ‘refuge’ are used. Psalm 46:1 is saying that God is our shelter and Psalm 46:7, 11 is saying the God of Jacob is our impregnable retreat. Make God your shelter; hide yourself in the Lord every time you encounter a problem by calling upon the name of Jesus, and then wait for the Lord to lead you by giving you idea and ability (make God your strength). Finally you will make the God of Jacob your impregnable retreat as you shall develop the habit of calling upon Him. I shall explain briefly what God of Jacob means; it means He is the God of the undeserving. I might write a topic on this in future as the Lord leads.
Now it is also written Psalm 141:8 But my eyes are upon You, O GOD the Lord; In You I take refuge; Do not leave my soul destitute. (Psalm written by David)
Proverbs 14:32 The wicked is banished in his wickedness, But the righteous has a refuge in his death. His death means the death of Jesus at the cross.
The word ‘refuge’ (in Psalm 141:8 and Proverbs 14:32) is chacah in Hebrew which means to flee for protection. This means if you are facing serious problem like having a cancer or deadly disease, or a huge debt that you can’t pay, come to the Lord as He shall protect you from all the harms of your problem even if it is your own doing.
Am I the one who say that the Lord will deliver you from trouble even if it is your own doing? Surely not! I learned this from Pastor Joseph Prince and I have confirmed it with the word of God. One of the good examples is Lot who dwelt in Sodom. Lot chose to stay in Sodom even after Abraham rescued him from the enemies of Sodom. God wanted to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because the men in there were very sinful, and Lot chose to live with them. It was his own doing that he would meet destruction, but the Lord delivered him and his family because he was considered righteous in the eyes of God. It is written in 2 Peter 2:7 and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked.
Come to the Lord with whatever problem or trouble you are facing and believe that He is indeed your refuge who will shelter (machaceh in Hebrew) you from all the noises of your problem by giving you peace in your heart and mind, and He shall become your impregnable retreat (misgab in Hebrew) to stop everything that can disturb your heart and mind, and finally the Lord shall become your protection (chacah in Hebrew) and you shall make it a habit to always come to Him whenever you sense disturbance in your heart and mind.
It is written in Matthew 11:28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Are you working hard to solve your problem(s) or are you being laden with burden of providing for your loved ones? Jesus wants us to come to Him with all your problems so that He shall rest you. In the original Greek, actually Matthew 11:28 is saying that Jesus shall be ceasing you; He shall be stopping you from all worries and cares. The Lord Jesus yearns and desires to be your refuge. Will you let Him?
I pray the Lord opens your understanding of Him being your refuge so that you can always be at rest in your heart and mind, and let Him work in you, through you and for you so that you shall witness His saving power. Be greatly blessed. Shalom Shalom.
Joshua Gan
God’s beloved whom Jesus loves
mywalkwithjesuschrist 
The very first part of your message reminds me of just how blessed of the Lord I am. I was saved 60 years before this revelation on Grace hit me(saved at 4 Grace message came alive at 64). My wife (Linda) and I have a great marriage. It was 37 years -18 months ago. When this Grace hit me I was too stupid to realize that even though she was saved, filled with the Spirit, and on and on- a great gap was between us now…I was clueless. This Grace message and understanding that is like the day and the night. There was a huge gap that existed in my wife and me now but I didn’t know. I didn’t know of the gap til July (6 months) later. Since Jan 2012 I had been revealing this Grace message to her. It would bounce off and then be rejected. Next time stick a little and be rejected.
It went on like this for months. She knew I was watching the heck out of Prince. We don’t have TV in bedroom but it’s in her work area room. That’s where I watch Prince. Sometime in the early summer she heard Creflo Dollar start saying the same thing. (Her comment “was what is going on”.) Our marriage was great but Grace would divide in 10 years. Any way in July I prayed and ask God for her scales to drop off her eyes and for her to see this. Now she had already seen the Grace change me to even better and better and better. Not that it’s a behavior thing but …Even before this I could ask the impossible from her and she gave(before Grace). Even before she could be in bed at 10 PM and I get to bed in my PJ’s. She tells me that she has to have something from store when we are ready from bed. It was easy to get clothes on drive to store get it and get to bed 1 hour later. This was before Grace hit. After Grace hit there were still hugely transitional and noticeable differences. Okay besides your sexual life going back to a teenagers after almost 40 years of marriage. I prayed and ask the Father to let her see this. The teaching that I gave to her and the fruits of Spirit was truly the Holy Spirit (Jan 2012 to July 2012)- but she still didn’t get it. It was two weeks that the scales completely dropped off her eyes- after I prayed. She had it!!! I just thought I was in Heaven. Not I was in real Heaven. I still remember the day two weeks later. I thanked the Lord for letting her see this. God you worked and it was only two weeks after I asked you. Now this was 6 months later…pretty stupid. Anyway the Lord clearly indicated that He had been waiting 60 years for me to get this, two weeks on my wife was easy compared to me.