His Beauty - a real fortress against the onslaught of life

Photo by K. Mitch Hodge on Unsplash

 

How is His Beauty a real fortress for you, here and now?

For me, it boils down to what I have and who I am because of Christ Jesus. Most of the issues in life relate to these two aspects of what defines me as a person. My enemies - satan, the world, and my own sin - try to convince me that what defines me is either what people think of me or what I think of myself, primarily due to my accomplishments. They will provide "good" reasons to find my definition apart from the Triune God, apart from His Person and Work.

But then the ramming attacks come, when sorrow and pain and suffering arrive, what God the Son has accomplished becomes the fortress, the refuge I need. Redemption, peace, reconciliation, and adoption are also part of the reality I live because of Him. 

But, how do I go there, to that fortress? How do His accomplishments protect me in this life? First, it requires a God-given humility to acknowledge my circumstances, condition, emotions. Then comes a confrontation: what my enemies say against what God says. The result of this confrontation is not a perfect state of bliss; it is not an accounting or numerical process - "well, I have 10 points of sorrow, but His Beauty gives me 12 points of joy; I guess, then, I must be 2 points happy." But, what comes out of this confrontation, the result of finding refuge in His Beauty, is that I can see my sorrow from the proper perspective, it becomes tolerable, and life makes sense to the point that I can keep going.

Of course, this confrontation may take some time - maybe a lifetime - but that does not take from the concrete benefits of His Beauty.

What about you? Do you find the refuge you need in His Beauty?

-AV