Imagine you find yourself outside in the woods during a thunderstorm. Lightning strikes the sky, thunder echoes around, rain pounds the ground you step on. You desperately want shelter, a safe place to protect you from the tempestuous elements.
Like getting caught outside in a thunderstorm, life circumstances can sometimes leave us feeling afraid, anxious, alone. I feel this way as I help my mom during her chemotherapy treatment. As I write this she has not had a good week. Many days she has barely made it out of bed and to the couch. She fights to get food in as she wrestles with waves of nausea and dizziness. As I assist her I feel helpless. I cannot do what I most want which is to heal her and make this cancerous storm go away. I feel unsure about what the future holds. Is there something more I can do to help? Will this chemo work? Can she handle another round?
All of this has left me feeling spent. Perhaps you too feel worn, worried or wearied by life events. Maybe like me you have a loved one fighting an illness such as cancer. Or maybe your marriage is breaking, or your child is struggling and you're unsure how to help, or you suffer from chronic pain and yearn for relief. Whatever present storms of life we may be enduring, there is a place we can take refuge.
Perfectly timed by God, this week I came across these words of Solomon, “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous runs into it and is safe” (Prov 18:10). That is, they draw strength and comfort from the person of God, from His personal, intimate, loyal love. Often when I’m worn out from life events I long to have strong arms to collapse into, for someone to embrace me with safety, protection and a place I can rest. This is the idea of running into the strong tower that is God.
Perhaps, like me, though you wonder what it looks like to seek shelter in the unseen God. The psalmist David gives us insight when he writes, “Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us” (Ps 62:8). We make God our hiding place when we, in great trust, cry out to Him, emptying our burdens in prayer.
I think of Hannah who so poured out her heart to God that Eli, the priest, thought she was drunk (1 Sam 1:9-15). Hannah longed to have a child, but was barren. Though she had a wonderful husband, her greatest desire went unfulfilled, while her rival, her husband’s other wife, bore child after child. So she went to God in prayer and let herself fall apart in His presence. With her whole being she pleaded with God, desperate, weeping before Him.
In Hannah’s storm of childlessness, God was her strong tower. He can be ours too. Whether your storm is also an unfulfilled longing, or financial uncertainty, an illness, a tough job situation, a prodigal child, or a broken marriage, pour out your heart to Him. Tell Him all, the fear, the worry, the confusion, the disappointment, the frustration. Finding refuge in God doesn’t necessarily mean the turbulent conditions will stop. But it does mean we have a safe place to hide throughout the storm.
Lifting Our Gaze This Week: Ideas For Application
- Get time alone with God and let Him know all that is on your heart. Don’t hold back. Share what worries you, scares you, angers you, burdens you, consumes you. If you’re unsure of all that is in on your heart, try journaling first, writing down all the emotions you feel or issues you're facing. Choose one you want to start with and go from there.
- Pick a song that really draws you to the presence of God. Reflectively listen to it, allowing the words to reach down to your heart, lifting your eyes upward to Jesus. Here are a few that move me to rest and worship:
- Look up and meditate on the following texts that discuss God as our strong tower and refuge.
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