We were singing the song Always (by Kristian Stanfill) yesterday at church. It’s been one of my favorite songs for the past two years, but something new stood out to me as we sang yesterday. The chorus that reads,

Oh, my God, He will not delay
My refuge and strength always
I will not fear, His promise is true
My God will come through always, always

As we sang, the word REFUGE really stood out to me, here’s why. The only reason a person needs a refuge is because there is a storm outside – or something pressing in on them. People need refuge when the comforts of life are removed and an outside force presses in on them.

As we sang, God seemed to affirm in my heart and life the reality that what he promises is NOT to stop all of the storms of life, but to be a trustworthy, constant REFUGE in those storms! Can I be honest? There are times in my life where I would much prefer that God operate as the storm stopper rather than the refuge. Now, there are times in life when he does stop the storms, but my experience has been that far more often he serves as a refuge during the trial.

Here is another realization that I came to as I was singing… If I need refuge, that makes me (in some sense of the word) A REFUGEE! A refugee is defined as: A person involuntarily displaced from his or her homeland. Isn’t that us? We are called to live as aliens and strangers in this world (Philippians 3:20-21). There is a deep longing within all of us that this world is not as it should be – nor as it will be eternally. There is a desire for a place where there is no sickness, death, crying or pain. I’m a refugee, longing for my home.

I’m so glad that God is a faithful refuge for me; a refugee. Maybe you needed to be reminded of the same thing today. Take a moment and read through Psalm 46. It’s an amazing reminder of a God who is a REFUGE. If you want, listen to this Rich Mullins song I’ve posted below, I think it says it pretty well.