Pause

Snapshots remind us of times past. They rekindle memories and create opportunities for sharing stories.

Those who have experienced God before us provide snapshots of God’s love for us. This love speaks through their words. It speaks through their actions.

As different as their lives and cultures were from ours, God’s love remains the same. Love speaks to us on our darkest days and in our brightest hours. Love speaks to us through stories and snapshots. Love speaks to us through actions and words.

Listen

In you, O Lord, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame. In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me and save me. Be to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress, to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress. Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel. For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth. Upon you I have leaned from my birth; it was you who took me from my mother’s womb. My praise is continually of you.

Psalm 71:1-6

Think

I remember seeing a picture once of a lighthouse on a rocky outcropping in the ocean. The storm was raging but the light continued to shine for the ships at sea. That image has always reminded me of this passage, and the notion of refuge.

For the ship at sea, the light keeps the ship away from harm, even destruction, much like the psalmist is asking of God. For the person inside the lighthouse, its sturdy structure and foundation is a safe place to be during such a storm.

Some days we need refuge. We might need a light to guide us toward a better place. We might need a place to be safely tucked away.

Whatever you face, your prayers are to a God who is faithful and loves you very much. The refuge God gives you may come in the love of someone who holds you during a painful time, or another one who loves you too much to see you heading in the wrong direction. When you pray for God’s refuge, expect to find it.

Brian Foreman

Pray

O God, you are my hope and my trust. Thank you for those who show me your love every day. Amen.

Go

You are God’s.
You are loved and known.
Let love speak to you.
Let love speak through you.

Amen.