A thousand apologies for not updating recently (there's a Mind Your Language reference right there, in case anyone still watches old school British Comedy anymore). I've been busy. It's a curious, curious sensation, it feels a little like MIT, only longer. Many things I've committed myself to doing :)

But also because I feel that I've been sorrrrely lacking in posts, I hereby promise to make an effort to write a post by this time next week. If I don't, then I will put up at least one (1) embarrassing photo of myself. Yay me.

SO, if you've been visiting here and anticipating the next post, apologies again, I will make an effort :D

(and here's a video that made me tear)

Something that's been on my mind these few days was the idea of God being a Refuge.

Yeah, no proper segue into it, just gonna throw the thing at you. Trust me, I spent half an hour thinking of some cool and fancy way to slide in the whole topic, but in the end I just decided on throwing it straight.

So yes! God is our refuge. But I sat back and thought about it for a while, and then I realized I have no idea what's a refuge. Instead of searching 'define: refuge' on google (did you know that you could do that?), I dug into the Bible to see how they used the word.

My research turned up four main definitions of the word 'refuge', based on four Hebrew words, and I'm going to try to break up the four meanings of the word into two posts.

The first is meownah, pronounced meh-o-naw, and it refers to a dwelling place, a habitation. A place to live in, to spend your life in. It's only used once, in Deuteronomy 33:27, where the verse reads "The eternal God is your refuge...". In terms of the context of the verse, this was part of the blessings that Moses pronounced on the nation of Israel before he died. It speaks of God being somewhere to dwell in. It speaks of dwelling in God's presence, living each day with Him by your side, and I think the holidays was one of the best times that we experience that. Especially during camp. I think many people can testify and say that camp was a place where, for four days of your life, you dwelt in God's presence. Where you shut out the world for abit and just lived with God. I love that thought :) But sadly, holidays end, and we've got to go back to school, which brings us to the next definition.

The second hebrew word is manowc, pronounced maw-noce', and it refers to an escape, a way to flee, a sort of retreat. This is the promise of God. My personal favorite use of the word is in Psalms 59:16. The whole Psalm was written by David at the point in time where King Saul was out to get him, and David was crying out to God for deliverance, for Him to help David in his situation. And David talks about his enemies, but ultimately he says this, "But I will sing of Your strength, in the morning I will sing of Your love; for You are my fortress, my refuge in times of need."

I know school is tiring. For most of us, it's been one week only and there's this feeling of 'ohhhhhh no, one more year of this'. But here is a reminder for you today: God is your refuge. Your means of escape. He's the small sturdy hut in the middle of the field during a thunderstorm. He's the giant ark in the movie 2012 (without annoying John Cusack messing everything up). He's the safe place, the sure footing, that place of stillness beside the tempest that is everyday life. He's your refuge, and He's waiting for you, like He always has been, and always will be.

Your God is your Refuge.

For a moment there I forgot the point I wanted to talk about today, and got really annoyed about it, but thank God for memory. Another important lesson: in life, if you don't write down an idea, it will never exist.

I've always been a kid that loves reading. I remember the story my mum loves to tell, about how one night she woke up at 4 in the morning. Seeing the light on outside, she walked out into the living room to find her 7 year old son sitting on the sofa with a stack of encyclopedias at his side. She wondered if there was something that was keeping him up, but apparently he just didn't stop reading since an hour after dinner.

Yes yes, inquisitive boy. But one thing I remember, that stands out clearly in my mind, was my fascination with the universe. Because I realized everything that I saw around me was just a tiny bit of the vastness of space. The idea that there were places out there, planets composed of just gas, huge clumps of swirling clouds, rings of small tiny asteroids, it amazed me. By the age of 9, I could tell you that Jupiter was over 1300 times the volume of earth, that Uranus differed from the other planets by it's axis of rotation being vertical, while the other planets had it's rotations horizontally. I was awestruck by the amazing-ness of it all.

And nowadays, when I look at all of it again, do you know what amazes me?

That God did all of that with a simple "let there be...".

Our God's pretty awesome :D

But I think we forget that pretty often.

Hello, what are you worried for? Or have you forgotten that the One who builds and sustains everything is on your side.

Maybe it's something to do with the way that we sometimes treat God. I know for myself that I've been praying for a renewed sense of respect for Him. There have been times where I catch myself sinning with the thought that 'it's okay, he'll forgive'. And there is something deeply deeply wrong with that. I wonder how He stands it sometimes, I wonder why He doesn't get pissed at me. And I remember that He loves me, and as long as there's still time, there's still hope.

But He's God. Of all. Of everything. Every description of God in the Bible holds Him as the Awesome God. Reading about how God appears to the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai holds me in amazement. Exodus 19, where a dense cloud appears over the whole mountain and a loud trumpet heralds the arrival of the Lord of All. Everyone in the Israelite camp shivers because they know that the Awesome King is there. During the Azusa Street Revival between 1906 to 1915, old ladies who were young girls then tell stories about how the children would sit below the table while the adults were praying, and they would literally play with the small clouds of God's glory.

And this is the clincher, that reminds me every time. He is God. And when He sets a goal for me, nothing can stop Him. If He decides that I should grow wings and a unicorn's horn for some reason, it's gonna happen. If He decides that the best way to showcase His glory in my life is for me to be a rapper, then be prepared to see Double G's newest album, "DOUBLE G OR BUST" go platinum.

So stop being worried. If you're in your school because that's where God has called you, then do what He wants you to do there, and stop worrying about the extra stuff, because your God is an Awesome God. If you're in another country because that's where God will use you, then do what He asks, focusing on Him, not your circumstance, because your God is an Awesome God. If you find yourself getting something you didn't want, and finding yourself having to go somewhere you don't want to, trust that He has a purpose behind what's He's doing, and go where He's leading you, because your God is an Awesome God.

You have a call, a purpose, a direction for what He'll do through you. Now stop worrying about the extra stuff, seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness, let the other things be added unto you.

Because our God is an Awesome God.

And I shall start 2010 on that note :)