909 is Now Called The Refuge!

The Bible verse, Psalm 9:9 (NIV) is " The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in the times of trouble." What once was called 909, will now be called, "The Refuge."

Why, you ask? Because as a student run organization, we want to encourage the focus to not only the community, but to our peers that the Lord is our refuge. The Refuge here at CTX is intended to be a safe place where students can come as they are.

College is a time for students to explore who they are, who others are and even how the world works. Many students grow up with a certain outlook on how life should be, how we should act, how others should act- without addressing how freeing the love of Jesus is.

This is not a rare, or unheard of, case. Youth and young adults (even some not so young adults) put things that seem like they would satisfy the need to belong.

For me, college was an opportunity to start over this way of thinking. I had personally let fear control my way of living. Fear of failure, being alone and not being loved drove me to isolation and even depression. That driving force left me feeling empty. Jesus fills that emptiness I feel, that we feel.

The term “refuge” can be defined as a condition of being safe or sheltered from pursuit, danger, or trouble; something providing shelter. Pursuit, danger, trouble; fear, depression, hopelessness. Jesus protects us from those. He shelters and loves us in a way almost unexplainable, immeasurable even. Jesus Christ is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in the times of trouble.

When I entered college, I thought a house, home, financial stability and the people I hung around were my strongholds. They were my refuge. I believed these factors were going to be the reason I got to be happy. But inevitably, they would fail time and time again. However, there was always one constant for me; there is a greater God who loves me as I am.

However, here at Concordia, I have learned that my safe place, my identity, my refuge, was and is Jesus Christ Himself.