My One Safe Place

When even the sunrise 
is muted by dust, 
the air polluted 
with smoke and red dirt, 
there is one safe place 
where I can stay, 
breathing in air 
that is healthy and clean, 
a place where my heart-hurts 
heal as I pray. 
Here beside you,
I’m finding a way
to gradually lay
each major worry,
each broken hope
on the palms of your hands.

You stretch them out,
your arms of power
with soft healing balm
poured onto me,
gently soothing
my fractured thoughts,
transforming them into
firm understanding
that all my hope
is truly in you.
You are my judge,
and their judge too;
I cannot see 
the ultimate scope
of what you are planning,
of what you will do.

I breathe it in. 
Your air is pure.
There is no dark
pollution here.
And you will help me
to persevere, 
eyes on you
and the final goal,
when you make all things
whole.

Our family has called the West African harmattan air “smust,” a blend of smoke and dust that carries in all sorts of gleanings it has picked up as it moves south from the Sahara. Here in the city the cooking fires and truck exhaust fumes add their spice. For most of us it just means dusting everything in the house more, but allergies and asthma can decide it is their time to rise, too.

It reminds me of the emotional atmosphere so many of us are living in these days. Whether we are in Africa with all the wars and rumors of wars along with fear of losing aid from other countries, or in the U.S. with all the headlines about political chaos, we can feel fear or disgust rising. It can truly be overwhelming.

The best place to go to breathe in totally different air is to our God:

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. (Isa. 26:3 ESV)

I confess I have clung to that verse in many different circumstances, from sitting in a chair as the dentist starts drilling to trying to remain calm in a war zone. When I repeat it over and over, digesting the words, I am reminded that a mind focused on the King of the Universe who is my loving Father will  become distracted from fear and relax. When I contemplate his goodness and wisdom, I build trust where there was none (or very little). His purposes are not within my grasp. The key is trusting that he does indeed have purpose even in hard times.

I’ve been reading the Joseph story in Genesis. When I think of the cruelty he endured at the hands of his brothers, then years in prison due to the false accusation of his boss’s wife, I marvel that he held onto his trust in Yahweh. He obviously trusted him to empower him to interpret dreams when those opportunities opened up. And that brought him (after another long wait) into an unexpected position of power and wealth as he worked to prevent famine from devasting Egypt. Then his brothers came to beg for food too! He couldn’t trust them without first testing them severely, but when they had finally shown some selflessness he revealed who he was and gave God honor for fulfilling his purpose, unknown until then:

“I am Joseph, your brother,” he said, “the one you sold into Egypt. 5 And now don’t be worried or angry with yourselves for selling me here, because God sent me ahead of you to preserve life. 6 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there will be five more years without plowing or harvesting. 7 God sent me ahead of you to establish you as a remnant within the land and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. 8 Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God.  (Gen. 45:4b-8a CSB)

That truly took solid trust in God to see his purpose after all that suffering, forgiving his wicked brothers and being thrilled to save their lives and do what God had sent him to do!

We may not see God answer our prayers on the timeline that we were hoping for. We may not even still be alive when his purpose is revealed clearly! Or we might see it tomorrow—he might turn our world around so that it is no longer toppling, or return to earth and make all things brand new. We don’t know. But if we fix our thoughts on him instead of letting trouble and terror rule our minds, we can keep on keeping on. When we long to grow closer to our Lord and Savior, and become increasingly like him, then we might be able to do what seems so unlikely: find “joy” in trials:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (Jas. 1:2 NIV)

Not easy. Not natural for us. But he is our one safe place. With eyes on the one true God who loves us and lives in us and walks with us, those of us who belong to him can live to fulfill his purpose in us, and trust him to accomplish his purpose in the world. In his timing!

My coworker and I just translated the following verse into Nyarafolo today and it struck both me and Moise deeply. It echoes some psalms—this is truth that has been clung to for generations, that there is one safe place we can always count on, one person who is always there for us, even when the world is full of worthless things that are doted on even though they are not true:

O LORD, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge in the day of trouble, to you shall the nations come from the ends of the earth and say: “Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, worthless things in which there is no profit. (Jer. 16:19 ESV)

He is our one safe place!