New Peace, One Refuge

Recently, the evening prayers I have been saying have been all about God as refuge.

They include the 91^st Psalm and incorporate a prayer beginning “O God, you are our life’s refuge…”

The continual focus on this aspect has led me to focus on trying to see God as refuge and understand what that means.  All the thinking must have sunk into my subconscious because I had a dream, which, I think, helped me to understand.

I was on a university campus, speaking to a group of young people when all of a sudden, a barrage of tornadoes came from nowhere.  A professor and I were able to escort those people into a basement-like parking garage, where we should have been safe.  However, the power flickered…everything got darker, then suddenly, everything got brighter and brighter.

All I could see what this brightness encompassing everything around me.

Then I saw Him, Jesus, appear before me and reach for my hand.  Despite the pandemonium surrounding me, all was quiet, and I reached for his hand without hesitation; my soul knew who He was.  He covered me.  The next thing I knew, I looked around, and we had been saved from the storm, all that surrounded us was utter destruction.

Despite the unsettling scene in my mind mere seconds before opening my eyes, I had a sense of peace.

That is what refuge is.

Christ is our barrier, our protection, our safety in this life of storms.  We may think we have it all figured out, and then something comes along, forcing us to run for cover.  To whom do we run? Are we seeking temporary shelter, or do we run for the one who will always be our safety and our shield; the one who will never desert us?

Peace can be found if we seek shelter in our Lord and God, the one true refuge.