Refuge

by Dianne Eckermann

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My times are in your hands; deliver me from the hands of my enemies, from those who pursue me (Psalm 31:15).

Read Psalm 31:1–4,15,16

We live in times when there is a great need for a refuge for many people around the globe. There are reminders each evening on our television screens of suffering due to war and the hope that peace will come again soon. It is hard to see people doing their best to survive amongst the rubble that had been their home, their private place of refuge. It is distressing to know that the carnage we see on our screens is caused by other human beings and for reasons that are not always defendable. There is no time in recorded history when there has been no conflict. We are pretty good at war but less successful at peace.

War, however, is just one kind of conflict in our world. Violence in the family, aggression in the workplace, neighbourhood disputes, and a widening gap between those who have much and those who have little all create a need for a refuge, a place where we can find peace.

Psalm 31 invites us to find refuge in the hands of God. It is a psalm of trust. Our times are in God’s hands, hands we can trust. We can trust in God’s peace because we are loved. Jesus’ last words from the cross, ‘Into your hands I commit my spirit’ (verse 5), portray God as the ultimate refuge. The trust we find in God is not the absence of conflict but the understanding that we can cope with the lack of peace in our world because we have a refuge in God in the times of greatest need.

This does not mean we accept that war and other conflict will always be with us. We can share the peace of God in the ways in which we support those in need of refuge. We can try to be better at peace in those areas where we are able to make a difference. We can trust in our God – our rock, fortress and refuge – for his special peace in our lives.

Dear Heavenly Father, we pray for peace for those who are suffering at the hands of others. We ask that you provide help for their physical safety as well as a refuge in your safe hands. We also ask that you help us to make a difference in the lives of those who need refuge from the world around them. Amen.

Dianne has served in Lutheran education as a teacher, school leader and system leader at Lutheran Education Australia. Now retired from full-time work, she continues to volunteer on several committees and as a school board member. She lives in the Adelaide Hills with her husband, Robert, and is in strong demand as a babysitter for her three grandchildren.

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