God the Refuge

Each day in November, the Everyday Truth blog is looking at a different name for God and providing a family devotional for you to use with your kids. The goal is to keep our hearts focused on giving thanks to God during the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.



Do you know what a refuge is? You've probably heard of a wildlife refuge, which is a place where animals can live without being hunted by people. Sometimes a wildlife refuge will take in hurt animals and either nurse them back to health or provide a safe place for them to live even if a bird has a broken wing or a squirrel is missing a leg. The workers at the wildlife refuge provide what the hurt animal needs to live, like food and water, if it is unable to get those things itself.

The Bible tells us that God is a refuge for us. He's a safe place to whom we can run when someone hurts our feelings or we're struggling with a situation. Psalm 5:11 says "But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you."

God is our safe place. He will always love us and always care for us. He wants us to run to Him when we need a safe place to go. He wants you to tell Him about the things that are bothering you. What's the first thing you want to do when you fall down and skin your knee? You want someone to clean it up, put a bandaid on it and tell you it will be OK. That's what God does when we fall down in life. We can run to Him, and He can heal our hurts, including hurt feelings.

What do you do when you wake up from a bad dream in the middle of the night or when something scares you during the day? Do you look for a safe place or try to find a safe person? God wants us to run to Him when we are scared or uncertain. He wants to provide comfort and peace to us. He wants to be our safe place.


When we take our fears and hurts to God, He offers us protection, which Psalm 5:11 says leads to joy. When we run to God, we may come to Him hurt and upset, but after spending time with Him and letting Him be our safe place, we can find joy. We may still not be happy with the situation, but our joy comes from knowing that God loves us, cares for us and provides us with a refuge.

On your thankfulness leaves today, write down situations where you are thankful that you can run to God and let Him be your safe place. You might be thankful that God is your safe place when your brother says something that hurts your feelings or you might be thankful that God is a refuge when your upset because your grandma is sick.

Pray together and thank God for being your refuge, your safe place.