Monday, May 10

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, until the destroying storms pass by.
—Psalm 57:1

When the sirens of an impending tornado are sounding all around us, we know to take cover, lest we find ourselves battered and bruised by the vagaries of a force greater than ourselves. We don’t want to stand still in the midst of the storm and find ourselves, like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, no longer in Kansas.

When the sirens of impending storms are sounding in our soul, we are tempted either to deny we are in a storm, or face the storm head-on, thinking that we can, by our own effort, our own bluster, subdue it. 

But sometimes what we need most in the midst of a spiritual storm is to retreat or hide in a safe place until the agitation settles. When we are in a spiritual whirlwind, we need to take refuge under the shadow of God’s wings.

We may think that simply stepping into the storm with bravado is the mature thing to do, but we put our souls at risk. What brings us to a point of stillness is surrender to the Holy One. 

We don’t need to “do” anything, “force” anything, “fight” for anything. We need only take cover; allow our souls to pray out their brokenness and fear; let go and rest in the hands of heaven.

O God, when the darkness threatens to engulf my soul, let me crawl on my knees into the safety of your embrace.

These Signposts originally appeared on explorefaith in 2004.