My Refuge

Last Tuesday evening I had a melt down at the dinner table with my family. The tears streamed down my face, my head held in my hands as I cried out in weariness, "I just want this to be over."

The next morning, I was scheduled to meet with three of my girlfriends for our weekly prayer time, but I didn't even feel strong enough for that. I opened up my "Jesus Calling," devotional and looked up the scripture reference for that particular day, Psalm 62:5. I ended up reading the entire Psalm, the verses that were a comfort for me were 5-8. (read below)

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;
my hope comes from him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
My salvation and my honor depend on God;
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.
Psalm 62:5-8

A little later that morning, I received an email from one of the girlfriends I was scheduled to pray with. The three others decided to write their prayers out and send them via email instead of gathering for prayer this week. It was amazing to me how the Lord knit a specific message through separate times of scripture reading and prayer about Him being our refuge.

Here's what one of my friends shared with me:

"Psalm 46 reminds us that You are our refuge, Oh Lord. The definition of refuge is a shelter or protection from danger or distress; a place that provides shelter or protection; a means of resort for help in difficulty. If You are our refuge, that makes us refugees (one that flees for safety; one who flees to a foreign country to escape danger or persecution.) Wow! What a word picture that is and so true of Your awesomeness. Lord, in one way or another all four of us are refugees trying to escape what this world has thrown our way. We face difficulties of letting go, difficulties in our relationships and even difficulties in fleeing to You for safety, shelter and protection. Help us Lord, show us mercy in our weakness and be our refuge. Help us to resort to You with our fears, our pain, our hopelessness, our impatience and all the difficulties that surround us and threaten to pull us away from our rest in You alone. Continually remind us that a refuge is a place that we flee to, not a place that comes to us. We need to flee to You. Help us to see You waiting and to see the lushness of Your presence and to desire to take refuge in You and rest in You."

The very next day, I received a card in the mail from a girlfriend I dearly love who I worked with years ago. In her card she wrote, "God is blessing you right now by offering you refuge in His arms, a safe harbor from the terrible storms of life. Stay strong. Relax, sleep and do all you need to do to gain your strength."

Later this week, I finished reading the book, "The Hiding Place," about Corrie ten Boom, a courageous Christian woman who became a militant heroine of the anti-Nazi underground. She experienced first hand in the concentration camps, as the prophet Isaiah promised, "a hiding place from the wind, a covert from the tempest...the shadow of a great rock in weary land."

Through everyone of these examples, it's as if the Lord was saying to me, "Terri, I AM your hiding place. I will protect you from trouble and surround you with My love. Terri, I AM your shelter from the heat of the day and a refuge and hiding place from the rain and storms of life. Rest in Me, my child. I Am your constant Companion, who sustains you moment by moment. I AM your resting place. I AM your refuge and fortress, whom you can trust."

Lord Jesus, I praise You for being my refuge and my resting place. In Your shelter I am safe and secure. You protect me in this battle called cancer. I am comforted by Your hand of protection upon me. Thank You in the midst of my chemo treatments I can rest in Your love. I can trust You to take care of me and my family, one day at a time. In Jesus' precious name. AMEN.

Psalm 32:7 - You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.