Take Shelter

Song Story

In a world full of conflict and uncertainty, there is only one place where we can find true refuge and rest: the loving arms of Christ. This single from Keith and Kristyn Getty, featuring talented new songwriter and artist Skye Peterson, is a hope-stirring reminder that we have a shelter in the storm. Although Skye started writing the song a few years ago, the war in Ukraine brought fresh urgency and clarity, resulting in a finished work that calls the world to look to Christ alone for peace. Occupying a sonic space that fits both a singer-songwriter and worship vibe, the track fits well with other songs of hope, comfort, and confidence.

From Skye :

“Take Shelter” was written at some point during my high school years. The original version of the song had some rough edges, but it was my attempt to express one of the most important things I was learning about God: he is the only safe place where we can hide.

I didn’t know a lot of things in high school, but I did know that my King offered the voice of peace in the storm of life. I thought about the way my parents would wrap me up in their warm arms on hard days, laying their hands on me like a weighted blanket. In those moments, I knew that everything was okay. Social anxiety, sorrow, sin, weariness—these things might afflict me, but they didn’t take away the reality that there was a King who was real and who loved me. I wrote the song and deposited it into my bottom-drawer bank where I let it sit for two years without much thought of it.

For some reason I was reminded of that melody again, around the time I started trying to write church music with my dear friend Ben Shive. On this particular morning, the musical atmosphere in the studio must have been perfect, because when I brought the chorus to Ben, we had the whole song re-written in less than two hours (Kristyn Getty later helped us finish it with her unreal gift for poetry).

It wasn’t until after we finished “Take Shelter” that the news of the war in Ukraine reached us. Knowing that bombs were being dropped on people—boys and girls with real names, real lives—brought home the themes of this song on a whole new level. It’s hard to know what to say in the face of such tragedy and suffering. But I genuinely believe this: in some mysterious way, our Savior offers a spiritual shelter, an oasis of peace, a refuge of God’s love, a safe haven of security, a sanctuary, and a hiding place for those who need it. And we all need it, from the front lines of the war to the suburban neighborhoods of America. We’re hopeless if God is not our shelter.

One of my favorite things about my church is that we read a lot of liturgies together. I love being able to hear the voices of my neighbors in front and behind me, to my left and to my right. In the same way that the chorus of the congregation behind my own voice reinforces and reminds me of the words I am praying, my hope for this song is that the lyrics will be our battle cry, our anthem, and our prayer—not only for ourselves but for those around us, those amidst war and conflict, and all who are waiting for the final shelter that is coming soon.

-Skye Peterson