refuge.
a place to hide.
a place of security.
Is a refuge only for times of trouble? or do we need to change our mindset of the purpose of a refuge?
God is our refuge. I have found that he wants me to make him my refuge when times are bad and when times are good. He is my safe place. He is my place to recharge. He is my resting place. He is my hiding place. He is the place I can go to when my heart is bruised and my soul is weary and my mind is overloaded.
He is also the place I go to when life is good and I want to rejoice in the birdsong of early morning or celebrate the exquisite smell of lilacs. The Lord doesn’t merely long to be the place we run when life has beaten us down, but He wants to be the one we reach for when life has presented us with sunshine.
I came across Psalm 31 the other day and I found so many references to the Lord being our refuge. Did you know that when we make Him our refuge we will not be put to shame? Shame is such an insidious problem. Shame forces us into hiding, but the wrong kind of hiding. We withdraw from the Lord and from people who long to walk through life with us. We find freedom when we make the Lord our refuge. He is strong and mighty to save and is able to rescue us from ourselves. He also wants to pour out His goodness on us–how I long for His goodness– His goodness is poured out when I take refuge in Him!
But there have been times in my life where I think I am making Him my refuge, but I still feel as though I need to tackle all my life problems myself. I believe I found the litmus test of whether I am truly making the Lord my refuge and that is found in Psalm 62:8 ‘Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge’. Two things light up for me in this scripture:
1. Am I trusting Him?
2. Am I pouring out my heart to Him?
Am I letting the Lord into the secret places of my heart, the secret thoughts? Am I speaking all that is within my heart or filtering what I say to Him?
I get scared.
of people.
a lot.
I allow people to wield too much power over me. Trusting God and pouring out my heart to Him are two things that I can do to break that unhealthy power I give to people because when I trust God and pour out my heart to Him, His opinion becomes more important and more powerful in my life.
And you? What are your struggles? When do you most often want to hide and where do you go? Have you thought of the Lord as your refuge and have you pondered all that He wants to do for you there?
Welcome His grace into your life by running to Him when you long for a refuge.