Do you know what a refuge is? It’s an old word for an ancient concept that is used a lot in church.
Historical Refuge
In ancient times, most people didn’t live in cities or towns. They needed to grow the food or animals needed to feed themselves and nearby towns. Due to fields and pastures, people lived spread out, sometimes hours or a day away from a town or city that could protect them. When raiders came, people needed places to be safe. A popular term for small refuges is hill fort. A hill fort was a wealthy landlord or a small community that built themselves a small fort for protection. During wars, the distant farmers would go to cities so the army could protect them. When the group of attackers were small and there was no advance warning, the shepherds and workers outside the walls of the fort ran for the protection of the hill fort.
God is our refuge
When times are hard and the devil is trying hard to make us doubt God and our faith, God can protect us. If we seek Him and focus on Him instead of ourselves or our problems, God won’t leave us to fight Satan on our own. Focusing on God instead of our current troubles isn’t easy. Trusting God to protect us when we can’t figure out our own fixes is hard too.
Focus through prayer and praise
I think that’s why God created the psalms and gave us music. When we’re having troubles, songs can comfort us and uplift us. With the help of music in hard times, we can calm down and focus enough to pray.
