The wrong refuge

Financial advisor Dave Ramsey recommends taking a two-step approach to building an “Emergency Fund.”  First, save up $1,000.  Then, after you pay off all debt (except your house), your next Emergency Fund target is 3x-6x your monthly expenses.  When my wife and I first learned about this approach, it didn’t take much effort to reach the first step – we paused eating out, rearranged some spending habits, and probably sold a thing or two we weren’t using.  Paying off all consumer debt took a while, but when we finally made it, we stumbled hard on the saving up for 3x-6x our monthly expenses.

Admittedly, we lost momentum…and it was our fault.  We had freed up a lot of space in the monthly budget by getting out of debt, which gave us the flexibility to do more things than we had previously.  Haphazard saving would bring us up a little bit – then life would happen, the Emergency Fund would take a hit, and we’d start building again.  Eventually, years later, we finally hit 100% of the 3x goal.  And let me tell you – it felt great!  It was so nice to know we were very prepared for potentially sizeable emergencies. 

And then…as it always does…life happened.  Our 3x goal wasn’t 100% funded anymore.  We were sitting maybe 50-60%.  While I was grateful that we could handle the situation without going into debt, I began to notice that I was feeling “less ok” about our financial situation.  My thoughts went along these lines: I’m glad we were prepared to take a 50% hit, but it’s going to take some time to build that back up.  Another 50% size hit (or bigger) would be devastating.  And I began to feel anxious about what to do next, and my mind swirled for days around how quickly we could recover.

I hadn’t realized that while we were building up the Emergency Fund, I was slowly becoming dependent upon the amount in the Emergency Fund as validation of our (my) ability to take care of our (my) family.  It wasn’t until after the Emergency Fund took a sizable hit that I discovered how much I viewed it as our rescue in tough times.  As I thought through these feelings, I also remembered the times when I was doing the budget, I’d look at the Emergency Fund with a small amount of pride: Yeah, that amount looks good.  Look how much we (I) have prepared us for any unforeseen issues.  While I wouldn’t brag about it to others, I certainly gave myself a mental pat on the back for the on-going achievement status.

But let’s be honest and think about this realistically…God got us through plenty of other times when our Emergency Fund was much less than the 50% it was at that moment.  That’s not a reason to avoid setting aside 3x-6x of our monthly expenses for emergencies, but there’s always the possibility that an emergency will come along that has a greater price tag than any amount we could save.  My faulty thinking was that the Emergency Fund was our (my) salvation and our (my) glory.  Our rescue and proof of success shouldn’t have been tied up in how much money we had in the bank.  The whole situation really wasn’t a money issue…instead, the money revealed a heart issue that needed to be dealt with.

As we’ve progressed through Psalm 62, David and Jeduthun have pointed out the evil that others can do against us.  In these next verses, they continue to point us toward the right response:

Psalm 62:7-8
My salvation and glory depend on God, my strong rock.
My refuge is in God.
Trust in Him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts before Him.
God is our refuge.
                                           Selah

God is the only one who is stable and secure.  When I trust Him with my present and future circumstances, then my soul finds rest and refuge from whatever difficult circumstances or trying people come my way.  No other person, place, or thing will satisfy my need for refuge – because there’s always the possibility that the situation could be larger than I can prepare for.  But with God as my focus and my trusted rescue, I know I am secure.

Let’s not forget that the Israelites used the psalms during the temple worship service – for singing, praying, and meditating.  That’s something for us to consider doing as well:

Has what we’ve been singing lately sounded anything like these verses?
Have our recent prayers recognized our dependency on God?

If we answered “no” to one or both of these questions…perhaps we should consider meditating on how much we need to depend on God.

While you’re meditating, pour out your heart to God.  All of it.  He can handle it. 

We find rest and refuge in Him when we do.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Seeking and expressing

I’ve always liked stories and analogies.  You can speak a sentence of truth to me, and I’ll hear you.  Relate that same truth in a word picture or in a story, and I will understand you.

I think that characteristic is what draws me to the psalms, especially ones that David wrote.  While he wasn’t afraid to express his raw emotions, he was also rather creative in communicating how his circumstances were affecting him.

Read the psalm carefully, looking for David’s word pictures:

Psalm 61:1-4

God, hear my cry; pay attention to my prayer.
I call to You from the ends of the earth
when my heart is without strength. 

Lead me to a rock that is high above me,
for You have been a refuge for me,
a strong tower in the face of the enemy.

I will live in Your tent forever
and take refuge under the shelter of Your wings.

Since his heart is without strength, David is figuratively looking for a refuge, a safe place for shelter.  In just a few lines, David describes his heart’s refuge in three distinct images.

Lead me to a rock that is high above me.  In any military campaign, the high ground has strategic advantage over any enemy.  The attacker has to contend with lousy sight-lines and little cover; whereas the one who controls the high ground is safe from many attacks and can readily defend against most others.

A strong tower in the face of the enemy.  A tower was the best defended position in the city.  Not only was it elevated, but it would also house supplies and weapons to keep it defended.  The most important people took shelter in the tower when an enemy launched a full-frontal attack.

I will…take refuge under the shelter of Your wings.  Clearly, this is a metaphor – David isn’t advocating that God has feathers.  However, the image that comes to mind here is quite powerful.  Under the protection of a parent’s wings, the young birds are protected from all sorts of outside influences.  They are kept safe and have a special nearness with the one who is providing the protection.

David uses all three descriptions to explain the kind of refuge for his weary heart to find in God.  Each of these images can grab our attention in ways that a normal, straight-forward statement cannot.  By using these very descriptive words, David is able to express exactly what he needs and clearly relay that to us. 

What metaphor would you use to describe your relationship with God when your heart is without strength?  How could you communicate your desire to know Him when times are difficult? 

Evaluating our relationship with God in these picture-driven words can help us express our feelings to God, and potentially draw in others.  I encourage you to give it a try.

Keep Pressing,
Ken