A Place of Refuge

Isaiah wrote, “And the Lord will create upon every dwelling-place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for upon all the glory of Zion shall be a defence. And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and a covert from storm and from rain” (2 Nephi 14:5-6). In here we find reference to three different sacred spaces: our homes (“dwelling-place”), our churches (“her assemblies”), and our temples (“tabernacle”). Each of these should be places of safety and peace, security and protection. These buildings today literally keep out the heat of the day, give us light in the night, and protect at all times from storms and rain. More importantly, though, they should be spiritual places which keep out the negative influences of the world and are filled instead with the Spirit of the Lord.

                It is perhaps most difficult to maintain our homes as places of refuge from the storms of life, for if we are not careful they too can be filled with the contention and filth of the world. We can and should use internet filters and limit the media that we allow in our homes to help keep the influence of Satan out. More importantly, we must proactively seek the Lord and invite His Spirit to be with us through the words we say, the prayers we offer, and the scriptures we read. But amidst the busy activities of life, this can prove challenging to actually do. Sister Linda Reeves commented on her own experience with this in general conference: “Some of you have heard me tell how overwhelmed my husband, Mel, and I felt as the parents of four young children. As we faced the challenges of parenting and keeping up with the demands of life, we were desperate for help. We prayed and pleaded to know what to do. The answer that came was clear: ‘It is OK if the house is a mess and the children are still in their pajamas and some responsibilities are left undone. The only things that really need to be accomplished in the home are daily scripture study and prayer and weekly family home evening.’” She continued, “We were trying to do these things, but they were not always the priority and, amidst the chaos, were sometimes neglected. We changed our focus and tried not to worry about the less-important things. Our focus became to talk, rejoice, preach, and testify of Christ by striving to daily pray and study the scriptures and have weekly family home evening.” We must not underestimate the power of reading the scriptures as a family and praying together to protect our homes and arm our children with the word of God to combat the evil forces around them.

                Shortly after I fell asleep last night I dreamed that one of my children was hurt by someone else. I woke up with a feeling of darkness that took a while to dispel, and I was grateful that it was just a dream. But as I reflect up on it, it was perhaps a warning that I must do more to keep our home a true place of refuge where our children can feel safe and accepted and loved by all. There is so much to bring them down in our world, so much that will tell them that they are not of worth and not good enough. So, we must in our homes offer them a “covert” from those influences, a place where they can find shelter and peace in the midst of so much confusion and chaos and evil influences in the world. I hope I can do more to help create “a fortress of love” for my family—as a musical family in my stake used to sing in my youth—so that whatever “storm” and “rain” and “heat” they face in the world, they will also find refuge at home.