I just published Volume 3 in the ''My God is Awesome'' book series, which is the final volume. Yippee!
One of the hardest devotions for me to write in the last volume had me recalling an event I hadn't thought about in years.
It happened when I was 12 years old and it was one of the most terrifying in my young life.
Through that experience, I came to know God as my Refuge in the midst of trouble.
I pray this devotional from the book inspires you too to praise God for the troubles He has delivered you from!
I love thinking of God as my Refuge because that reminds me that my safety and security is in Him! When trouble comes in the world, we do not need to fear; we can always find shelter under the Lord's everlasting arms.
Today’s word to describe God is my “Refuge.”
Meditation
I had never been so frightened.
When I was about 12 years-old, my mother invited a co-worker to stay with us for a while. The woman was in an abusive marriage and her husband had assaulted her.
The woman was looking for a place of safety. My mother wanted to help.
Typically, my mother left me in charge of my little sister and me when she went to work.
The woman was there for a while after my mother went to work but then she made a phone call. Before I knew it, someone had picked her up and she left.
After about an hour passed, I heard this terrible knocking at the door and a man yelling the woman's name for her to come out. Clearly, the woman had given her abusive husband our address, but then left before he arrived.
I didn't know what to do. I was too scared to tell him that she had gone.
Anxiously, I kept looking out of the window to see what the man would do next. As I looked, I saw him go back to his car and open his trunk.
"Oh no,'' I thought, ''He is going to get a gun!''
I took my little sister's hand and hastened out of the back door. I ran to our next-door neighbor's house for refuge.
From that place of safety, I called my mother at work and told her what happened. She came home immediately.
Thankfully, the danger had passed by then.
I don't know what happened between my mother and her co-worker, but I never saw the woman again!
In hindsight, I am thankful to God for keeping us all safe.
I remember the relief I felt when our neighbor opened her door and let me and my sister in, closing it behind her.
I was able to take a deep breath and sit down, knowing that our neighbor wouldn't let anything happen to us.
We should have that same confidence in the Lord's protection. After all, we were in danger of perishing in our sins, but the Lord sent His only begotten Son to save us!
If God will save us from dire consequences, won't He provide refuge when life challenges overwhelm us?
Of course He will! When we are overwhelmed, the Lord’s presence and protection is our safe harbor.
Bible Memory Verses
Deuteronomy 33:27
The eternal God is your refuge, And underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, And will say, 'Destroy!'
Psalm 28:8
The LORD is their strength, And He is the saving refuge of His anointed.
Psalm 46:1
God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.
Psalm 62:7
In God is my salvation and my glory; The rock of my strength, And my refuge, is in God.
Psalm 62:8
Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah
Psalm 91
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust."
Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler
And from the perilous pestilence.
He shall cover you with His feathers,
And under His wings you shall take refuge;
His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
A thousand may fall at your side,
And ten thousand at your right hand;
But it shall not come near you.
Only with your eyes shall you look,
And see the reward of the wicked.
Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.
In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
"Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him,
And show him My salvation."