It’s funny what you remember from childhood. Some of my fondest and most vivid memories centered around the work bench in our garage. It was a place I got to connect with my dad. It was a place I felt safe. It was a place where the world just seemed right. What was your safe place as a child? Do you have one today? Interestingly, the Psalmist speaks of God in that way in Psalm 46:1-2:

God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea.

Psalm 46:1-2

The songwriter says that as followers of God, our safe place isn’t somewhere we can go, but someone we can know.

Our dad in heaven is like a fortress we can seek refuge in, He is our strength in times of trouble. God isn’t reluctant or distant, but is always ready to help us when we need him most. Therefore, he says, we don’t need to be afraid – even in midst of earthquakes or should mountains tumble into the sea.

What the author of this psalm is trying to share is that we aren’t safe because everything around us is going well – we live in a place where earthquakes happen and mountains fall into the sea after all. Rather, we are safe because God is our refuge and strength in the midst of every challenging season.

We can and too often do put our trust in many different things – things like our careers or friends or finances or abilities – but at the end of the day, none of those things are nearly as reliable or trustworthy as God is.

He is the only one that can truly protect us and keep us safe even in the midst of the fiercest of storms.

When we allow God alone to become our source of strength and security, it changes our posture towards the world and all those things that seem to threaten us. Take a few minutes today to reflect on how your life might change if you were to live as if you were safe – no matter what circumstances surrounded you? Close that time by asking God to become more real in your life, and for you to grow in your trust in Him as your refuge and strength.