Zebra Ministries

Good morning Zebras,

Two years ago, my family came home to a “Welcome to Torporville” sign on our door.

Torpor is the state of rest hummingbirds go into when the conditions in the environment are hostile to their survival.  It is sort of like hibernation, but much shorter.  For years God had had me praying our house would be a safe place for our family, a place where they could rest and be recharged before going back into the world, He had just never given it a name before. 

Recently God confirmed that vison when Gary and I went to the wedding of his uncle.  The pastor, who was is his eighties, gave a list of charges to the couple, one of which was this:

I charge you to make your home a place of honor and spiritual refuge from the storms of life, not only for yourselves and your family but also for your friends and guests.

A noble goal.

In the Old Testament, a city of refuge was a place where a person who had accidently killed someone could run and be safe from those who wanted to take his life.

Numbers 35:9–12 Then the Lord said to Moses: “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into Canaan, select some towns to be your cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone accidentally may flee. They will be places of refuge from the avenger, so that a person accused of murder may not die before he stands trial before the assembly.

I think it would be wonderful if every Christian home was a spiritual refuge, a safe place, a place filled with God’s Spirit where God’s people could rest and be safe from the attacks of the enemy.

I remember reading once in a book that mothers should pray over every room of the house for eyes to see hidden things that are offensive to God and then remove them because God’s Holy Spirit is quenched in the presence of sin. At the time, I thought it was weird but fifteen years later I find that is exactly what God has taught me to do. Of course, since I am a practical person I find it easiest just to pray as I clean.   

And second, and probably equally important, we need to make sure we don’t let Satan follow us in the door.

In some cultures, people take off their shoes before they enter the house so they don’t track in the world’s dirt and grime.  In a Christian home, maybe we need to consciously pause at the threshold of our homes and pray before we enter so that we don’t track in the sins and the dirt of the world. 

And if we are really bold, and serious about protecting our space, we should ask our Christian guests to do the same.

Love,

Jill