What Does It Mean to Take Refuge in God? A Devotional
“Hey mom…”
My eyes bolt open, adrenaline surges through my sleepy body. My mind races. “Is there an intruder? Is someone hurt? Is someone puking?”
I hear my daughter’s small voice, “Can I sleep with you? I had a bad dream.”
Breathing a sigh out, I shift over in our bed to make room for her. My daughter often has vivid nightmares that wake her up in a fearful panic, unable to go back to sleep. I know the feeling; I still have some truly unsettling dreams that can pull me out of a dead sleep.
Like many children she makes the trek through the dark to her safe place–her parents’ bed. As she snuggles in, she whispers of the fears that woke her. I pull her close, her small body pressed against mine, my arms wrapped around her, holding her safe.
What does it mean to take refuge in God?
Psalm 91:2 says, “I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” (NIV)
The word translated “refuge” in this verse is often also translated as “hope, shelter, or trust”. It is the Hebrew word, “Mahase”. Both literally and figuratively a place of protection for us: a hopeful place, a home, and a sanctuary.
Psalm 73:28 uses this word as well: “But as for me, it is good to be near God.I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.”
Our hope is in God, our shelter, our safest place. It is good to be close to Him. When my daughter comes to our bed looking for refuge from her bad dreams, her hope isn’t in that king-size bed.
Her hope is who is in the bed.
God is your refuge.
When our waking lives feel like the stuff of nightmares, we too have a place to flee. Perhaps it’s shaky finances, crowding our minds with worries about bills and the future. Or the shattering
news of a family member’s illness, bringing a wave of grief and uncertainty. Maybe it’s the
overwhelm that comes from good things, things we prayed for, like a spirited threenager or new
challenges at a job we love or a calendar full to the tip-top with activities. It could be a
relationship that drains us daily, church drama that erodes our peace, or the divisive roar of
politics that leaves us disheartened. When we wonder if anyone cares and if we truly matter.
When these moments steal our peace and leave us feeling utterly exposed—into all of that
scary, messy stuff, God speaks.
“The Lord will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the heavens will
tremble. But the Lord will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.”
-Joel 3:16
We may feel like life is hopeless and things are falling apart. We may feel like the heavy and
hard will never leave. But God is roaring in our favor. He has promised to be a refuge for us, a
place of hope, protection, and nurturing.
We are safe with God. Sometimes I wish we could physically run to our Heavenly Father’s bed
and curl up in His arms. While we don’t have that physical embrace yet, we do run to Him as we
read and meditate on His Word, allowing its timeless truths to settle down our souls and speak
peace to our anxieties. We take refuge in Him as we wrestle through difficulties and frustrations;
pouring out our hearts and voicing every fear and concern to Him in prayer, knowing He truly
hears. God meets us and shelters us through His people, as we love and care for one another
in personal and practical ways.
Let’s keep running to the refuge, dear sisters in Christ, no matter how dark the night is.
Reassured and steadied with the truth that God can handle our deepest fears. Trusting not in a
place, but in the One who is always there–our ultimate hope and stronghold.
