Psalms 71:3 Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto
I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art
my rock and my fortress.
When I was a
little girl I loved inventing imaginary worlds where I would go and play. I had a spot by the back shed where if I were
to jump, I entered another realm and could be anyone I wanted to be. Sometimes
my sister and I would get Mom’s red electric blanket and use it as a tent on
the front porch. We would hold up the
edges with clay flower pots (and we broke more than a few!) Stephanie and I
would pretend we were in a ship and there was a big whale in the water as we
adventured along. When I didn’t have
anyone to play with I would hang upside down from the pear tree by my swing set
and dream of someone coming by to ask me to be in the Olympics as a
gymnast. I would twirl and spin from the
branches as if I was Nadia Comaneci herself.
Other times, I would stand and sing the Old Rugged Cross to the cows in
the pasture between our house and my grandma’s as if I was the great George
Beverly Shea in hopes that the Reverend Billy Graham would invite me to sing in
his Crusades. But, my favorite place to
go and hide was up under the counter in the bathroom. Mama had it covered with a curtain and since
I was a small thing, I could fit quite nicely and hide. I loved scaring my sister or mom as they
walked by, but mostly I just felt safe there in my own little hiding place.
When I read
Psalms 71:3, I am comforted by the fact that I can CONTINUALLY resort in the
hiding place I have in God. I can go
there in the mornings as I read and pray.
I can return later and dwell in His presence after a trial or two (or
three) and the best part is, it isn’t make believe. I don’t have to hope He will shelter me, I
know that He will. I don’t have to do
anything to gain entrance, I can just run to Him and hide. There is no cost, no need to bring anything
and no check out time. Day or night,
night or day, I am welcome in His presence.
God isn’t tired
from what is going on in the world. He
hasn’t grown old and sickly. He is in
control of what is happening in the Middle East and arranging events on our
small little planet as the time draws near for His return. He has heard all the private “closed door”
conversations up on Capitol Hill and seen the House and Senate debate over
issues that change the way America is headed.
He sees the lonely and starving in every 3rd world country
and calls and sends missionaries to every corner of this world, yet He is still
very available for you and me to run into His presence and resort there.
Isaiah 59:1 Behold, the LORD'S hand is not
shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
Psalms 24:8 Who is this King of glory? The
LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.
If you are
God’s child, you have a 24/7 pass to come into His presence. One of these days when we are with Him face
to face we are going to realize the time we wasted at Starbucks with a friend
instead of with our Greatest Friend in prayer.
We will see Him as He truly is and we will wonder why we didn’t resort
into our Hiding Place more often.
Over the coming
weeks as we draw this year’s journey to a close, I am going shine a spotlight
on the person of God so that you and I can think on Who it is that we are
developing this relationship with together.
Today take with you the thought that He is your Hiding Place and you and
run and hide there in His presence as much as you need. You are welcome there, just scoot over and
make room for me too!
Until next
time, Lord willing,
Sheri
No comments:
Post a Comment