My eyes bolt open, adrenaline surges through my sleepy body. I hear my daughter’s small voice wake me up. “Can I sleep with you?” she asks. “I had a bad dream.”

Breathing a sigh out, I shift over in our bed to make room for her. My daughter often has vivid nightmares that wake her up in a fearful panic, leaving her unable to go back to sleep. I know the feeling; I still have some unsettling dreams that can pull me out of a deep sleep.

Like many children, she makes the trek through the dark to her safe place — her parents’ bed. As she snuggles in, she whispers of the fears that woke her. I pull her close, her small body pressed against mine, my arms wrapped around her, holding her safe.

Psalm 91:2 NIV says, “I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’”

The word refuge in this verse is often also translated as hope or shelter or trust. It is the Hebrew word, mahase which, literally and figuratively, means a place of protection — a hopeful place, a home, and a sanctuary. Psalm 73:28 uses this word as well: “But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.”

Our hope is in God, our shelter, our safest place. It is good to be close to Him.

When my daughter comes to our bed looking for refuge from her bad dreams, her hope isn’t in that king-size bed. Her hope is in who is in the bed. When our waking lives feel like the stuff of nightmares, we, too, have a place to flee. Perhaps shaky finances are crowding our minds with worries about bills and the future. Or the shattering news of a family member’s illness bringing waves of grief and uncertainty. Maybe it’s the overwhelm that comes from good things, things we prayed for, like a spirited “threenager” or new challenges at a job we love or a calendar full to the tip-top with activities. It could be a relationship that drains us daily, church drama that erodes our peace, or the divisive roar of politics that leaves us disheartened.

When we wonder if anyone cares and if we truly matter. When these moments steal our peace and leave us feeling utterly exposed—into all of that scary, messy stuff, God still speaks.

The Lord will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the heavens will tremble. But the Lord will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.
Joel 3:16

We may feel like life is hopeless and things are falling apart. We may feel like the heavy and hard will never leave. But God is roaring in our favor. He has promised to be a refuge for us — a place of hope, protection, and nurturing.

We are safe with God.

Sometimes I wish we could physically run to our Heavenly Father’s bed and curl up in His arms. Yet, while we don’t have that physical embrace yet, we do run to Him as we read and meditate on His Word, allowing its timeless truths to settle down to our souls and speak peace to our anxieties. We take refuge in the Father as we wrestle through difficulties and frustrations, pouring out our hearts and voicing every fear and concern to Him, knowing He truly hears. God meets us and shelters us through His people, as we love and care for one another in personal and practical ways.

Let’s keep running to the refuge, dear sisters in Christ, no matter how dark the night is. Let’s be steadied with the truth that God can handle our deepest fears. Trusting not in a place, but in the One who is always there — our ultimate hope and stronghold.

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