by Jordy van Gaalen

Our Refuge and Our Fortress

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“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of  the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
Psalm 91:1-2 (New International Version)

My husband and I have always loved to go on adventures together. One of our first adventures was a two-day canoe trip.  Starting out the first day, it was sunny, warm, the water calm. Everything was as we had expected. As day turned to evening, things changed quite drastically. The storm clouds billowed in the distance and we knew what was coming. 

We found a place to set up camp and cook some dinner. We had only brought hammocks for sleeping, but as the rain threatened to downpour, we knew that would make for one miserable night. On top of that, trees were quite sparse on the little river island we had settled on. 

As we looked around, we decided our canoe was by far our best choice of shelter. We dug into a tiny bluff on the sand to create a little cove between the sand and the canoe. When the clouds unleashed, we crawled under that canoe. 

During the night, beneath that shelter, it was quite peaceful. There was something so beautiful and captivating about the music the rain was making against the canoe. The storm and the chaos raged on around us, but we were safe inside our canoe shelter. It wasn’t the best night of sleep – the sand flies were incredibly itchy, we shivered a bit in our slightly damp clothes, and there wasn’t a lot of space for movement. But despite being uncomfortable, we were safe. 

God is described as being our shelter in the storm in numerous Bible verses. He protects us and He provides for us. There are times when we are afraid, there are times where the storms threaten to overtake us, there are times where we are uncomfortable and struggling to make it through the night. But God is always there with us. He is our refuge and our fortress. He is the one who gets us through the storms. We can trust in His power and might and infinite wisdom.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado