A few weeks ago Aaron and I had the privilege of spending a few days in Santa Fe, NM. After a summer full of camp, moving, and preparing to go back to school we just needed a break. So we headed to the mountains.
When we started Camp Machaceh over four years ago, we set out to create a refuge for campers. A safe haven from the rest of the world where they could just be kids and have an opportunity to meet with God. But Camp Refuge just didn’t seem quite right. So we started looking for other words that mean refuge. We ran across the Hebrew word machaceh in Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Machaceh here is translated refuge, but it can also mean hope and trust. Machaceh. That’s what we try to provide to our campers. A place where they can learn to hope and to trust anew. A refuge from the cruel world in which so many of them live. Machaceh.
Which brings me to the reason we went to the mountains. You see, over the past four years or so, the mountains have become for me a machaceh. It was when we lived in the mountains that God laid the vision for Camp Machaceh on our hearts. It was to the mountains that we ran after that first incredibly difficult summer. So it only makes since that we would head to the mountains at this crossroads in our life. What is it about the mountains that draws me? I am reminded of the grandeur and majesty of God in the mountains. I am reminded of His provision and His sovereignty. I feel closer to Him. I go to the mountains to reinvigorate my relationship with God. And after almost three weeks of seminary, I understand why God drew me to His mountains once more. To prepare me for the journey before me. Seminary is going to challenge and stretch me. But He is still there, and He is the reason I am going back to school.
“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” Matthew 9:37-38
All that to say, what is your machaceh? Where do you go to be rejuvenated in your relationship with God?
