Our God is a loving Father to us, His children. He takes care of every need we may have in life. One way God shows His love to us is by being our refuge. In Psalm 46 we see this truth very clearly.
Psalms 46:1:
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
This is a powerful promise to all of God’s people! God is our refuge. We make God our refuge today by being born again, by turning to Him with our prayers and cares, and by claiming His promises to us.
The verb form of the Hebrew noun translated “refuge” in Psalms 46:1 means to seek refuge, to flee for protection, and thus figuratively, to put trust in, to confide, to hope in. God, as our refuge, provides shelter, protection, aid, and comfort. These are wonderful benefits of making God our refuge, and in this definition we see believing actions we can take to make God our refuge—we trust and confide in Him. Three ways we can make God our refuge today, in the Grace Administration, are by being born again, by turning to Him with our prayers and cares, and by claiming His promises.
In the Grace Administration, in which we live today, we make God our refuge by being saved, or born again. According to Romans 10:9, when we confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead, at that point we are saved. How does this give us refuge? When we get born again, we are rescued from the power of darkness and given heavenly citizenship. In God’s eyes, we are already seated in the heavenlies. Let’s look at these realities.
Colossians 1:13:
Who hath delivered us [rescued us] from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of [by] his dear Son.
Philippians 3:20:
For our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 2:6:
And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
Before we were born again, we were without God and without hope in the world (Ephesians 2:12). We needed to be rescued from that. Once we got born again of God’s spirit, our deliverance became a reality and gave us heavenly citizenship by the accomplished works of Jesus Christ. God has already placed us in the heavenlies. From His eternal perspective, we are already there. Now that’s a place of refuge!
In Ephesians 2:18 we read that we have access to God. This gives us confidence to know that God hears us and that we can come to Him with anything on our hearts. With God as our refuge, we have access to Him for any situation with our cares and prayers.
I Peter 5:7:
Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
Philippians 4:6:
Be careful for [Be anxious for] nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
No matter the situations that arise, we can cast our care upon God because He cares for us. We lift the burdens off of our shoulders and put them onto God’s. If we have anxiety about anything, we make our requests known unto God. The result of doing this according to Philippians 4:7 is that “…the peace of God…shall keep [guard] your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” By having access to God and turning to Him with our requests, we have peace. Isn’t this something you would want in a place of refuge?
Another way we make God our refuge is by claiming His promises. According to II Peter 1:3, God by His divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. If we want the things that pertain to life and godliness, we have to go to God’s Word. As we read and study God’s Word, we will find the answers needed to live a godly life. The wisdom and knowledge in God’s Word will give us stability in our times (Isaiah 33:6). If we have a question or concern about life and how to live a godly way, we go to His Word and find the answer that gives us the stability we need to prevail, and thus make God our refuge from the confusion of the world. We can be confident that we know God’s will and are doing the will of God in our lives.
Our heavenly Father has shown His great love to us by being our refuge in times of trouble and making it available to be born again, by giving us access to Him, and by giving us promises to claim. Once we get born again, we receive the ultimate refuge by being delivered out of the power of darkness and being given citizenship in heaven. In God’s eyes we are seated in the heavenlies. As our refuge, God wants us to turn to Him knowing we have access to Him anytime. Having this access, we cast our cares upon Him, and we pray to Him with our requests whenever we have any anxiety. God’s Word has promises that we can hold on to and utilize as a refuge. One way we receive these promises is by studying the Scriptures. We certainly have seen that God loves us by being our refuge and giving us powerful ways we can have access to His refuge. Let’s make this a day-by-day reality as we claim all God has made available to us to give us a place of shelter, protection, aid, and comfort.