The Many Chambers of a Refuge

Come, my people, enter your inner rooms, and lock your doors behind you.  Hide for just a brief moment until the indignation passes over.  Isaiah 26:20

When I am outside the safety of my home, there will be exposure and, oftentimes, danger.  I’ve been out walking when a thunderstorm comes out of nowhere.  There was a rush to get home.  I’ve been out in the middle of the lake when unexpected bad weather descended.  There was a rush to get to port.  I’ve been in an airport when there was a lockdown.  There was an urgency to find inconspicuous places of safety.

God tells His people that, in this world, there will be times of trouble.  There will also be times of judgement.  What should God’s children do in the middle of it?  Retreat into physical and spiritual safety until they pass.

• The Israelites stayed inside their homes while the death angel ravaged the land of Egypt.
• Rahab, having declared her spiritual allegiance to the God of Israel, nestled in place while Jericho was being destroyed all around her.
• Noah took shelter in the ark when the floodwaters rose.

These safe harbors can be physical places like the security of a sanctified home but they are also spiritual places of refuge.  Throughout COVID, we are sheltering in place but God’s people are also sheltering their souls in God.  Jesus’ name is a strong tower and those who run to Him are safe.  My spirit, the place where the Spirit of God resides, has many rooms. I find that it is expansive the more time I spend there in prayer.  How could I begin to explore the depths of His dwelling place!

Every promise is a place of shelter.  Every righteous character trait of Jesus is a place to hide.  Every whispered assurance of love is a sanctuary and like the cavernous cathedrals across this world, His voice echoes through the chambers of my soul.

The stuff of this world drives me to safety and I am to live there until the trouble is over.  While there may be a respite coming from COVID, there will only be something else to take its place.  Until Jesus comes, sin will reign upon the earth and its bedfellows will besiege earth’s inhabitants.  Disease, broken promises, skewed power plays, loss, death.  As a child of God, I must learn to hide in the Rock of Ages.  “Show me your glory” must be my theme song and heart’s desire.

Seeing the glory of God in prayer puts iron in my soul.  Basking in His perfection defers my hope until a future day when God will make all things new.

Lord, until then, hide me.  My song of joy is sung to You only.  Amen