Are You A 'Spiritual Refugee' ?

Recently, the Lord began to speak to me about the term 'spiritual refugee', so i checked the meaning of refugee which was given as a displaced person who has been forced to cross national boundaries and who cannot return home safely. Such a person may be called an asylum seeker until granted refugee status. And the Lord said there are so many 'Spiritual Refugees' in our day: people who have crossed or are crossing 'national boundaries' consciously or unconsciously, in the spirit. These people at some point in their lives accepted Christ and became citizens of the commonwealth of heaven, believers in God who agreed to put their faith in Christ Jesus at a point in their lives . Many even became ardent followers of Christ but due to tests and trials in their faith, they have gradually abandoned the 'spiritual Kingdom' and are seeking asylum in other things, and other places: asylum in cynicism, in intellectualism, in the world's notion of success and progress, in life and its demands, and even in their preoccupations about what they want to attain in life. 

Some have also gotten attracted by pleasure and luxury, they are so comfortable in life that they find no use for their faith. They have crossed over into a religion of self gratification, operating in their own way as 'little gods' over their own lives. These people have lost the spiritual connection and tie with the Christ and are living by other theories, or driven by other needs.  In other words, they have lost the 'looking unto Jesus' factor in Hebrews 12:2. Some also are driven by fear, all sorts of fear, that they are not willing to trust God for anything anymore. They will rather flee and go elsewhere, to make things happen for themselves. These are 'spiritual refugees.', fleeing instead of 'enduring' .Are you a spiritual refugee? Let us note that the Bible talks about even Jesus having to 'endure' and 'persevere' in his journey to glory, which shows that our journey will be the same.'Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.'Hebrews 12:2

The Lord said to me, the things that people are not able to endure or persevere in, are the very things that drive them to seek asylum elsewhere, away from the Kingdom of God.For instance, enduring in an atmosphere of disbelief and persevering against all odds is necessary because that is the true mark of a child of God. God knows the path you ought to take and He has promised to lead you there. Psalm 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; i will counsel you with my loving eye on you. That is God's promise, so do not let any circumstance cause you to be displaced in your faith,  pushing you to seek asylum elsewhere.

In Joshua 20:1 the Bible talks about 'cities of refuge': God designates cities of refuge for people fleeing from stuff that are beyond them. 'Then the Lord said to Joshua: 2 “Tell the Israelites to designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses, 3 so that anyone who kills a person accidentally and unintentionally may flee there and find protection from the avenger of blood'. Symbolically, there are a lot of Christians who have strayed from their walk of Faith, who have gone astray, and are caught up in various kinds of deceptions and mess. Some may have defiled the faith, killed the faith of others or even led others to sin. God cares about all these people and desires them to 'find protection from the avenger of blood', he desires that they will run or hide no more, but instead return home. 

As defined earlier, refugees are people who feel they cannot return home safely, sometimes due to offence or mistakes or what they have experienced in church. Some people have also grown indifferent to the things of God. If you are like that God says flee no more.Its time to settle. What is it that makes you feel uncomfortable in your walk as a Christian, what is it that is almost making you hide and flee from the faith you once professed? It does not matter the excuse God says you can return home, Christ is your refuge, and the Lord will set his city of refuge around you again, if you let Him. 

Psalm 37:3-5 Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.4 Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.5 Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

For many of us Christians, our calling and mandate itself is a place of safety for 'spiritual fugitives' and 'offenders of the law', people who are in a mess. That is why we should not take the call lightly. God says in Mathew 5:14 You are a city set on a hill. (Read 'You Cannot Be Hidden' for more understanding). Your Faith,your calling, your purpose in God cannot be hidden because perchance it may be the 'city of refuge' for someone who has strayed from his faith, or one who has committed an error that has kept him or her running for  asylum. Moreover every christian ought to grow and mature in order to be able to help others find this refuge.

In case you are fleeing from something or battling with your faith, may Gods word, as well as someone's testimony or boldness in the faith point you to take refuge in Christ. The words of God through His servants are always sources of refuge too. May you run to a tower of refuge set by God, through his word, through a message, through His voice. And may you rest there till you get hold of your Faith again, and may any avenger of blood after your destiny be defeated by the power  of Christ's own blood. Amen.

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