To Live is Christ — my Refuge

The idea of a refuge puts mental pictures in my head. I see a rabbit trembling inside a small hole after escaping from a predator. I see a child hiding in a closet from a bully sibling. I see a soldier deep inside a bunker, and a bruised and beaten woman in a shelter, and a family in a high place during a flood. The Bible says God is my rock, my salvation, my defense, and my refuge.

My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. (Psalm 62:5–7, ESV)

Most of my hiding happens after the fact. Something has happened and I run to the Lord, looking for His protection and comfort. I might feel like that rabbit who narrowly missed being another animal’s lunch, trembling because of a close call.

A few times, God has been my refuge right in the thick of things, before I run for cover. While I cannot make public one of those battles, I can say that at times He seems to appear before me. He becomes so real that my fears give way to awe.

These verses are important because they not only describe how God takes care of His children, but they give the one thing that I need to do when the pressures of life become intolerable. To experience God as my refuge, I must wait silently and not be moved.

Silence is one thing; lack of movement is different. The Hebrew word means slipping, falling, tottering, but the implication for me is that I cannot try to fix things or fight things by myself. That is, if God is going to save me, I need to let Him, not moving until He gives direction.

A story tells of a man who fell off the edge of a cliff. He managed to grab hold of a tree root on the way down. He began to yell, “Help. Help. Is there somebody up there? Please help me. Is there somebody up there?”

Finally a voice answered. “This is God. I can help you.” The man breathed a sigh of relief. Then the voice said, “I can help, but first you have to let go of that tree root.”

The man hesitated, then said, “Help, is there somebody else up there?”

Relying on God during the tough times means letting go of my own ‘control’ in a situation. Even in those troublesome spots when I feel like I have very little going for me, I don’t want to let go of the tree root. After years of experience, I’m still learning that my resources might seem okay, but His are far better. Besides delaying His deliverance, my own ideas usually get me in deeper trouble. Opening my mouth will do it, but moving in my own strength with my own ideas will do it too.

My soul must learn to wait silently. This means no decisions unless He speaks, no words unless He gives them, and no bright ideas unless they are from His Spirit. When my soul can stay still, my body can too. It is in that place that I experience God as my refuge and my hiding place.

Photo credit