Staying Safe By Staying Close

When we face trouble and trials, we can come to Jesus, our rock, our source of strength, our refuge. We can read in Psalm 142:
3 When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, Then You knew my path. In the way in which I walk They have secretly set a snare for me.
4 Look on my right hand and see, For there is no one who acknowledges me; Refuge has failed me; No one cares for my soul.
5 I cried out to You, O Lord: I said, "You are my refuge, My portion in the land of the living.
6 Attend to my cry, For I am brought very low; Deliver me from my persecutors, For they are stronger than I.

We know that God is not surprised by our trials and that He wants to work in our hearts even through those times of trouble.  So, we can choose to reject His ways or submit to His love and recognize that He wants the best for us - for His glory!  We can draw near to the Lord, cry out to Him, and expectantly wait for Him to do His work.  We can regard Him as our refuge, the One who gives us strength, and hide ourselves in Him.

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In Deuteronomy 33, we can read a passage that contains some wonderful promises directed at Israel that can be applied to the Church, as well. We can find these words:
26 "There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, Who rides the heavens to help you, And in His excellency on the clouds.
27 The eternal God is your refuge, And underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, And will say, 'Destroy!'
28 Then Israel shall dwell in safety, The fountain of Jacob alone, In a land of grain and new wine; His heavens shall also drop dew.
29 Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord, The shield of your help And the sword of your majesty! Your enemies shall submit to you, And you shall tread down their high places."

It wasn't exactly the way that a church group from Fernandina Beach, Florida had anticipated its international trip.  In fact, Senior Pastor Zach Terry told Action News Jax: "It was a standard wonderful experience up until the 3rd day on the ground..."

Suddenly, their church group of over 50 people was experiencing something unusually, and potentially deadly - missile fire.  The pastor said: 

“We heard our first one coming into Jerusalem, we noticed people pulled over, ladies getting out of their car, ducking down and covering their heads. It didn’t occur to us what was going on,” he said. “We opened the door to the bus and we heard the sirens and we were like oh, there must be something in this region and sure enough within a 5-mile radius, two missiles hit.”

The article relates that "They were in Jerusalem for 3 days while the war was going on and then tried to safely move everybody across the Jordan border, but countless others had the same idea." Terry said, "Our original flights were gone...”

Essentially, they were trapped in what could be described as a "war zone." Their scheduled 12-day trip was extended to 16.  Eventually, they were able to make it home.

Another church group, from a church in Georgia, had a similar experience.  A CBN.com report said that:

Pastor Todd Cox of StonePoint Church in Cumming, Georgia had been in Israel for 7 days. During that time, he baptized 16 people in the Jordan River and also renewed his vows with his wife at Magdala. All was happening according to plan until Saturday morning October 7th.

"That's when we got the information that the war had broken out, that about 4,000 rockets had been fired in the south," Cox told CBN News.

The article continues:

Pastor Todd said his first instinct was to protect his people. "I was in the Coast Guard and so I'm a rescuer at heart and I'm a leader and take-charge guy. It certainly made me want to do something and to jump into action. But the good news is the Lord really just gave me a sense of peace and calm," he said.

The group was in Nazareth, which the article described as "safer," but they recognized the instability of the situation and began to search for a way to get back to the States.  Pastor Cox said, "We contacted, of course, the Embassy. We filled out paperwork with the State Department to let them know where we were so they could get in touch with us if there was an emergency. And there were some options to fly out of Tel Aviv and to Istanbul but those went away. And of course, people were a little worried about going down to Tel Aviv because of rockets..."  

The pastor had been using Facebook to share information and someone saw a post and "connected them with...Rep. Cory Mills of Florida."  The article quotes Pastor Cox as saying: "The next day he flew out to Jordan personally, flew out to Jordan, came across the border, made his contacts and met us in Nazareth and got on the bus with us in Nazareth, and escorted us all the way across the border...He personally took care of us and got us into a hotel in Amman, Jordan, where we were able to fly out the following day. I just truly believe that God used my friend and Representative Mills as his instruments to rescue us..."

Pastor Cox related, "If we're not close and we're not listening and we're not tuned into His voice, then we're going to miss it. And so, I just want to encourage people to be close to Him, to be in his Word, to be listening to His still small voice..."

The Baptist Paper ran an article that included the stories of several church groups that were adversely affected by the violence in and around Israel.  

We rejoice in those who were in harm's way but who have been brought out of dangerous situations. When we feel threatened, we can make sure that we recognize the presence of God's everlasting arms.  Fear can paralyze us, but faith in Christ can set us free. As Scripture teaches us, when we feel vulnerable and weak, we can rely on God's strength.

We can also be motivated to join with fellow Christian believers all around the world.  We can pray for the peace of Jerusalem, as the Bible instructs us. And, we can pray for God to use a devastating situation to bring glory to His name and bring those who don't know Him into a saving knowledge of Christ.