Refuge in Times of Trouble

Strength from God

Many have asked me how my husband and I maintain our strength, maybe even our sanity through the trouble, through the physical disease, through the complications of brain surgery, and through arguably the hardest time of our 40 years together. Our faith in God and a few Bible truths come to mind. We have finally given up on the notion that God provides a trouble-free existence if we just have faith—not true. It’s crystal clear to us now that God doesn’t always provide protection from trouble nor reward our faith with complete deliverance when in the heat of crushing circumstances. However, through these past 18 months of trial, we have found God’s promise of strength and endurance through any hardship to be true. That supernatural ability to find hope and press on comes through seeking refuge and sanctuary in his presence. 

God’s Provision of Refuge

God invented the words refuge and sanctuary to describe places where we humans could find his presence and his safety or protection amid any trial. Nahum the prophet says “The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He knows and cares for those who take refuge in Him (Nahum 1:7).” King David (Psalm 46) says, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in times of trouble.” The Old Testament records the Israelite nation wandering in the Sinai Peninsula and adjacent desert regions for forty years seeking refuge, after escaping 400 years of trouble in slavery to Egypt. Moses is the agent of God’s deliverance and curiously, they carry with them a sanctuary for God’s presence. A scene is painted in the scriptures of an elaborate physical tent that would be torn down and re-erected during their travels, and God would be present within the inner sanctuary of that tent. Later that tent would become a physical temple in Jerusalem, parts of which still exist today. We all need refuge and sanctuary and sometimes there are physical spaces or natural wonders that catalyze or make it easier to experience God’s presence and exact some strength. 

A History of Places of Sanctuary 

When I was a kid and throughout high school and early college, I found refuge in physical spaces. As a toddler, I would hide and find body and soul refuge in our home’s basement. There were large wooden shelves along one wall in that deep cavernous place and I could climb into them to escape and read. I felt safe there and found peace. Later in life during breaks from college, I would live with my older sister in Racine, Wisconsin. A place of refuge and sanctuary was still a necessity for me and I would often spend time at a place called Wind Point with its Lake Michigan breezy air and quiet peaceful grounds. That place was a type of refuge for sailors of old because standing firm on its shoreline bedrock is one of the oldest and tallest active lighthouses on the Great Lakes. I loved the escape and refuge exuded from those grounds.

Body and Soul Protection

Today, I still have a few places of soul and body refuge, but real strength and peace come from my inner sanctuary. Yes, my backyard is lined with seven different types of trees and I can roll out to my rock patio and park near my favorite protector, the firepit. But the real protector and refuge for me is within; that inner temple that is spoken of in the New Testament (1 Corinthians 3) that is created for those who will choose to believe in Christ. The Bible declares to believers in Jesus, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” I answer, yes! And without that inner sanctuary, I would be lost or dead most likely; instead, it is there that I find that source of immeasurable strength. I have that temple and tabernacle in my heart.

Strengthened and Sustained in Refuge

So my answer to that question sometimes posed of what has sustained me throughout my battle with dysphagia and Parkinson’s Disease is in part refuge. I find supernatural strength from God somehow in my inner sanctuary, my heart. In facing these difficulties, I have an “ever-present help, and strength” in this time of need. Sometimes visiting certain places, a prayer closet, a park, a field, a woods, a lake home, and other locations helps us encounter some peace or inner heart refuge. But to incur real refuge and to dwell with the Almighty himself, we need to look inward. 

California Here I Come!

To incur some stimulus for my heart refuge I am stepping out into the unknown with my first flying travel trip since all this trouble started. It’s a trip to a remote resort, a refuge hopefully, snuggled along the Northern California coast. More on that next time.