There have been so many times in my life when I have been in need of a refuge from the storm.
Psalm 91 says that the Lord 'is my refuge and my fortress'. Isaiah 25 tells us he is 'a refuge from the storm'. Many of those times have been when I needed spiritual strength given to me.
As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I often find the spiritual strengthening and refuge I need in holy temples, in our church meetings, in reading my scriptures, in the peace that comes through priesthood blessings, and in moments of sacred prayer with my Father in Heaven.
I tend to find refuge and strength when I'm with our family. Because I know they love me, I know I can be strengthened by them and feel that things will be ok. Maybe not perfect right now, but 'eventually'.
I also feel my Savior strongly when I am in a position to enjoy nature and to feel Him in my surroundings.
And then there are days when a place of refuge looks like this:
On our morning walk one day it was very overcast and foggy. Rain was predicted, but we looked at the radar before we took off and felt that we would be ok. And then the rain started just as we were passing a construction site that just happened to have this most welcome sight right next to the road. We hurried over and barricaded ourselves inside. We were there for 15-20 minutes before we heard the rain subside. We laughed about this literal place of refuge from the storm, but we were oh, so thankful!
We continued our walk, and when we turned around to head back home, we found ourselves a little ways past our place of refuge when the rain started again. My husband suggested we go back to the safe place. I was ready to get home and convinced him the storm would ease soon and we should just keep walking. Suffice it to say that by the time we got home, we were both soaked and freezing!
I'm not sure why it was so hard for me to take advantage of the gift that had literally been placed
right in our path!
I'm sure I do this too many times in my walk through life - asking for His help, then going on by myself when he is trying so hard to make things easier for me!
I have found that getting through the storms of life is never as easy if we convince ourselves that our way will be ok and we should just keep going.
Things always turn out better when I include the Lord and the protections and strength that he so graciously offers me.
