On May 11, 1953, a stormy afternoon turned deadly for 114 Wacoans as an F5 tornado ripped through downtown, leveling hundreds of businesses and homes and leaving nearly 600 survivors injured. Dozens who sought shelter in a department store were killed when the building collapsed. The tornado tied with a 1902 storm as the deadliest on state record. Thankfully, in the nearly nine years that we have lived in Waco, only once have we had to enact our family disaster plan.

We frequently talk about what to do during tornado watches and warnings, but as the neighborhood siren sounded that night, we put the plan into action. We brought pillows, blankets, books and flashlights into the master bedroom closet and hunkered down with a radio to wait out the siren. We read together, listened to music, prayed for safety and tried to stay calm. We were thankful for a safe refuge.

Psalm 37 talks about waiting out the storm when wickedness seems to surround us. Does it ever seem like the liars and cheats get away with their unethical behavior – and even rewarded for it? Verse 7 tells us: “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes” (NIV). The chapter goes on to say that “the power of the wicked will be broken” (v. 17) and that the blameless, the generous, the peace-seeking, the ones called righteous, will find refuge in the Lord.

Refuge is an interesting word. It means to have a place – like a storm shelter or bedroom closet – in which to hunker down during times of danger. Please note: Having a place of refuge does not exempt us from being in danger! God did not promise that we would be removed from perilous situations, but that when trouble comes, we can ride it out with him as our Protector, our Salvation.

Psalm 37 tells us to put our hope in the Lord – to walk boldly and live generously, knowing that our inheritance is in eternal things, not the fleeting perks of this world. We do not have to live in fear!