God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. (Psalm 46:1-3)

Refuge is not abstract, but deeply personal.

God is my refuge and strength. I know this in both my head and my heart. I have felt His peace in the darkness. I have hidden under His wings and felt His strength and presence surround me even when tough circumstance of life continued. I did not have to be afraid any more, because I knew God is in control.

I live in a city named Pella, which means “City of Refuge.” That’s what I want to be, too, but how can I act as a refuge for others?

First, I have to follow the example of Jesus Christ:

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. (Philippians 2, 3-4, NIV)

For me—and for you—Jesus was humiliated, rejected, shamed, and viciously killed. He paid for the debt sin tallied up by me, by you, by all of humanity. That’s how big His love is, was, and always will be.

How can I possibly value others this way? Not in my own strength, that’s for sure. But, I don’t have to do it alone.

for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. (Philippians 2:13, NIV)

When I am humiliated, shamed, embarressed, rejected — How will I respond? Shall I take offense to this personal attack, or am I called to act as a child of God:

“a child of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation, and then shine among them like stars in the sky (Philippians 2:15, NIV)

I can’t on my own, but I am filled with His Holy Spirit, and in His strength I can.
In His words, I can welcome you to Pella.
Because what is offered is really God’s refuge.