Something that's been on my mind these few days was the idea of God being a Refuge.

Yeah, no proper segue into it, just gonna throw the thing at you. Trust me, I spent half an hour thinking of some cool and fancy way to slide in the whole topic, but in the end I just decided on throwing it straight.

So yes! God is our refuge. But I sat back and thought about it for a while, and then I realized I have no idea what's a refuge. Instead of searching 'define: refuge' on google (did you know that you could do that?), I dug into the Bible to see how they used the word.

My research turned up four main definitions of the word 'refuge', based on four Hebrew words, and I'm going to try to break up the four meanings of the word into two posts.

The first is meownah, pronounced meh-o-naw, and it refers to a dwelling place, a habitation. A place to live in, to spend your life in. It's only used once, in Deuteronomy 33:27, where the verse reads "The eternal God is your refuge...". In terms of the context of the verse, this was part of the blessings that Moses pronounced on the nation of Israel before he died. It speaks of God being somewhere to dwell in. It speaks of dwelling in God's presence, living each day with Him by your side, and I think the holidays was one of the best times that we experience that. Especially during camp. I think many people can testify and say that camp was a place where, for four days of your life, you dwelt in God's presence. Where you shut out the world for abit and just lived with God. I love that thought :) But sadly, holidays end, and we've got to go back to school, which brings us to the next definition.

The second hebrew word is manowc, pronounced maw-noce', and it refers to an escape, a way to flee, a sort of retreat. This is the promise of God. My personal favorite use of the word is in Psalms 59:16. The whole Psalm was written by David at the point in time where King Saul was out to get him, and David was crying out to God for deliverance, for Him to help David in his situation. And David talks about his enemies, but ultimately he says this, "But I will sing of Your strength, in the morning I will sing of Your love; for You are my fortress, my refuge in times of need."

I know school is tiring. For most of us, it's been one week only and there's this feeling of 'ohhhhhh no, one more year of this'. But here is a reminder for you today: God is your refuge. Your means of escape. He's the small sturdy hut in the middle of the field during a thunderstorm. He's the giant ark in the movie 2012 (without annoying John Cusack messing everything up). He's the safe place, the sure footing, that place of stillness beside the tempest that is everyday life. He's your refuge, and He's waiting for you, like He always has been, and always will be.

Your God is your Refuge.