GOD ­­ OUR REFUGE

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever­present help in trouble, therefore, we will not fear…”

Psalm 46: 1 -­ 2 New International Version

“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, sit back, relax and enjoy your flight, while we bring you safely to your destination!”

It was just another routine flight of the GermanWings Airbus A 320 from Barcelona to Düsseldorf, on Tuesday 24th March 2015, nothing special, nothing unusual. The pilot and co­pilot enjoyed a joke or two as they prepared the silver bird for take-off. But at approximately 10.48 hrs. that morning, the plane had come down in the French Alps, killing all the 144 passengers (among them 16 school children) and 5 crew members.

At first it was thought that this could be another terrorist attack, but as more information came to light, it soon became evident that the co­pilot, 27 year old Andreas Lubitz had deliberately planned this act of suicide and mass murder, by crashing his plane at 700 km. per hour into a mountain.

Our hearts went out to all those who lost loved ones and friends; to those fighting grief and trauma; to those whose hearts were and still are dumbly shrieking, ​“Why, God, why?! Why did you allow this?”

I believe that God’s heart is also torn when he sees the suffering and death of his creatures. We live in a fallen world where hate and satan cause pain, and although God is sovereign, yet Man still has a free will which God will never take away from him.

We will probably never know the state of Andreas Lubitz’s mind as he decided to take this step, and what mental or spiritual deception or desperation drove him to do this terrible deed, although he is not the first pilot to have done this.

When we hear reports like this, our hearts can easily be gripped by fear, especially those who need to travel and fly a great deal. Yet even in the midst of uncertainty and danger, we can know that God has promised to help those who entrust their lives to him.

A few years ago, a man and a teenage boy in America shot 17 people; the police could not catch them. God showed to a born­-again Christian where these two men were. He informed the police and they found them asleep in a truck, exactly as he had been shown.

In the 1950’s, a group of Christians in Sweden were praying, when God showed them that Russia wanted to take over their country. They prayed against this and the leader, Stalin, died.

Several years later, God told a pastor that Russia was again trying to take over Sweden, showing him the date, time and place where this would happen. He informed the government and the police, who rounded up all of this Communist ring. Sweden remained free, because of Christians who knew how to seek God. ​Could it be that many times God wants to warn us but we’re not listening?

I read about a Christian businessman who travelled a great deal for his work. One night in a hotel, he was awakened by a smell of smoke. He ran to the door, but shut it immediately for the corridor was filled with fire. He ran to the window but he was many floors up from the ground. Through the window he could see fire ­engines racing to the scene; he did not know what to do but prayed for guidance.

He knotted his sheets end to end, then dragging the bed near to the window, tied one end of his ‘rope’ to the bed ­leg and threw it over the window­sill. The heat was unbearable and the door was blistering. But still, the voice in his heart was telling him to, ​”Wait, don’t go yet!” ​The man waited several minutes more until the fire was burning the door down, then the voice said, ​”Go now!”​ He climbed over the sill and started to climb down his sheet­rope. When he got to the end, he was still too far to jump to the ground.

A large crowd had gathered and they could see the man hanging three storeys up. Again he prayed and felt God was telling him to swing the rope from side to side. After some effort he managed to do this. Swinging past some windows he saw a man inside the building. It was a fireman looking for survivors, who pulled the man in and took him down another way to safety. ​God had done it again!

So let us be on guard, be vigilant to what is going on around us, yet be encouraged that God ​can ​and ​wants ​to show his care and power to us.

“He, who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust,” Psalm 91: 1 ­ 2 New International Version