God is my fortress and my refuge, a very present help in times of trouble. I’ve read that Scripture, and I’ve sung that song, but now I’m living that life. It has become very real to me.

There’s one thing I’ve figured out about life in my nearly 50 years of living it: in this world, we will have trouble. It comes in all forms and at all times. Sometimes it is as small as the challenge of motivating yourself to do life that day. Sometimes it is challenges with coworkers, parenting, marriage, or single living. Sometimes it is simply the day-to-day work of avoiding conflict, keeping yourself and those you love from danger, and carrying the responsibilities that come with living. I don’t want to diminish that challenge or exaggerate it, because the truth is, it is hard to face life day after day and do all the things necessary for living. It’s not challenging like trying to lift a 1,000-pound weight, the impossible. It is more like the daily grind: a weight you have the capability of carrying, but it still feels heavy after carrying it over time. For many, anxiety or internal struggles greatly affect how they feel and approach daily life. The challenge becomes heavier because of that extra burden.  It’s that feeling of wanting to run away instead of facing what is right in front of you. We’ve all felt it, and if we haven’t yet, we will. This daily grind can wear you down just as effectively as a chisel to a rock. It is like water running over a rock for a long time, slowly changing it. The water may not seem as daunting as the chisel, but over time it still has a similar effect.

I want to recognize that it has been a privilege to get to do this for almost 50 years. I know this time is not granted to everyone. So as much as the grind of daily living is a challenge, it is also a blessing, because the alternative is not living. Because of these daily challenges, we can see and recognize that we need a refuge so in a way the challenges are a blessing to because they remind us of our need for a Savior and a Shelter. We need a place of safety to hide away. We are all warriors fighting a daily battle. But just like the words of that Twila Paris song, the warrior is a child. Sometimes I feel like that, like the picture of the little girl in the grown-up woman’s shoes, as if I’m trying to fill shoes that are too big for me in life. It feels like more than I can take, like I’m an impostor, and I don’t want anyone to know that I’m actually just that girl, absolutely and totally dependent on God to give her strength. I project the confident woman, but I don’t always feel like that inside.

This daily grind has not conquered me, but it has reminded me every day that I need to stay connected to the vine. I have a source of strength and hope and peace, but it is not within myself, my own capabilities, or my circumstances. The daily grind reminds me that I serve a sovereign God, and I am not in control—He is. It reminds me that I must depend on Him very much like a child. It also reminds me that I am not alone because we are all facing it. It isn’t as if I’m the only one who has had to motivate herself to get up, dreaded the alarm clock, or felt weary before even putting her feet on the ground. Life can be exhausting. It can’t all be exciting, fun days we look forward to. Even Jesus got tired and needed to go away and be refreshed. It is part of being human. So, we should handle our daily grind and our weariness the same way Jesus did. We should be like little chicks that huddle under their mother’s wing and find rest, warmth, and safety there. We should be like the weary soldier coming back into the fortress after a fierce day of fighting, safe and protected from the battle. We should be like Jesus, going away to spend time in prayer and seek God alone. We will find that God is like a mother hen, with wings strong and wide enough to cover all who are His. He will hold us close to Himself and keep us warm and safe.

But we can’t stay there. We have to go back out and do the work He has given us to do, but we can go out strengthened and renewed by our times of refreshing with Him. We can’t forget how important it is to refuel. We can’t forget how important times of refreshing are in His presence. It doesn’t matter if it is in church, at a Bible study group, in your car praising the Lord like nobody is watching, at home in prayer and supplication, or out in nature when you feel surrounded by the glory of God. It doesn’t matter where, but as believers, we have to take those moments to steal away with God, to refocus and recenter our minds. 

There is something to be said for meditating on God and focusing on all his benefits, blessings, and truth. It brings wholeness and rest to your soul and spirit. If you are weary, you should rest—rest in the Lord. 

I don’t know why I ran from it for so long, fighting my own humanness and denying my own weariness, driving myself to the point of exhaustion. It is like I looked up and God was saying, “Why are you doing this to yourself? Don’t you know I’m here with a place of refuge for you?” I ask you today, fellow believers: why run from the refuge? Why seek any other solace when there is no other but God alone? Go running home when you fall down. Come when you are weary, when taking another step feels like more than you have within yourself. When all you find on every side is challenge and opposition, you can run to the name of the Lord. It is a strong tower. You can run into it and be safe. You can find that place of peace. 

No, refuge doesn’t mean the battle has stopped everywhere or that the challenges have gone away, but at least for a little while, you can be at peace, rest, and shore up your strength to step out and face another day. Let’s look to the Lord everyday to be the strength of our Life and our place to hideaway and find solace and peace. 

Don’t live weary my friends as those who have no refuge, no home, or shelter from the daily grind and challenges of life. Rush to rest at his feet and find peace and strength to face every challenge, every battle, and each new day!