We are on the alp. After a hot summer’s day, dark clouds gather and cover the green mountain landscape. In the meantime, it has become dark outside and it starts to rain. The tin roof covering the alpine hut allows us to hear the raindrops particularly well. Then suddenly a bright flash in the night sky and shortly afterwards a loud bang! We flinch and are glad to know that we are safe in the cosy alpine hut.

Natural phenomena such as thunderstorms awaken a sense of awe in me. They make me realise how small I am in relation to the universe and remind me of a psalm in the Bible.

I look up to the sky and see what your hands have created: the moon and the stars – you have given them all their place. What is man that you think of him? How small and insignificant he is, and yet you take care of him.

Psalm 8:4-5

The size of the universe compared to our existence could trigger feelings of fear or inferiority in us. But just as the alpine hut was our safe haven in the midst of a storm, God wants to be your refuge in the midst of the fears and questions of your life.

Where is your sanctuary?

Applicable Bible text: Psalm 8