My Hiding Place

My Hiding Place

10/17/18

We all have our hiding places where we go to feel secure and safe when things around us are crumbling.  These hiding places come in a variety of methods, ways, and areas and they all serve their purpose at that moment but what do we gain from these momentary sanctuaries and do the results fit us accordingly and for a long-term period of time?  Have you ever wondered why one has to leave the area in which one faces adversities in order to find this type of secure setting?  Maybe we should take another look at what a true hiding place is and how we should view its presence.  God is often referred to as the best hiding place and while this is a true and glorious statement the question must be raised if we really understand what His presence means and exactly where this hiding place is located.  If God can proceed in only one direction, why is it we believe we must run back to Him in order for us to find His hiding place?

Some of you know that my earthly hero is General George S Patton.  I have admired him for decades now and I love to read about his actions, motivations, and sayings.  As most of you know not all of his career moves were the best and in some instances just down and out stupid, but all of them served a purpose and through his actions and leadership on the battlefield helped the truth be liberated and then spread to millions of people not only in Europe but around the entire globe as well.  One of the sayings of his that has stuck with me is one that not many people have heard but it is a very important and one that should remain in our hearts when we are learning about God and the characteristics of God.  The saying is this: “I do not like to pay for real estate twice” which means that once General Patton went through an area he did not like to retreat and have to fight for it again, for any reason.  It is this concept that we need to understand about God and how His holy hiding place exists and also how God operates in only one direction.

Some of you might remember me talking about my father and I’s trip to Haiti way back in the mid-1980s.  It was a time in which God showed me so much about life and how the blessings of God have been poured out on our nation and how things could be if our hearts would not have been submissive to Him so long ago when we were establishing this nation’s foundations.  I remember that there were areas of this island nation that when traveling through were simply magnificent to look at for the structures and landscape was gorgeous and when one would go up into the mountains and look below the ocean and bay was simply divine.  But for the majority of the country, the living standards were defined as a mire and muck shanty living country and as my eyes gazed across this territory my heart understood what it meant to live in complete poverty on all levels of human existence.  I had never known hunger or filth before and I pray that as my mind wanders back to that setting that we never turn so far away from God that His hand strikes us into this position.

There were places that we went that when we arrived in the area we would have to roll up the windows of the vehicle because of the stench and filth that was in the area.  You could actually see the dirt and mire that the area harbored for it loomed as a brown cloud that covered the blue sky above and it was this type of living that these people called home and thought nothing about because of the setting in which they knew as life.  My mind and heart were broken on that trip and I have never looked at food the same ever since.  When a single box of shoes can cause a massive turnout of approximately 10,000 people within a matter of a few minutes, one’s sense of security becomes in question especially as you turn your head to look behind you and all you see is a small beach and a bunch of water.  When a couple of men take off their belts and start swinging them in the air striking people around you to fend them off so that they do not crush you, sends chills of insecurity and fear through even the “toughest” seventeen-year-olds body.  Where do you go, where could one hide are some of the questions that ran through not only my mind but to those that were with us as well.

After that day, I did not leave the confines of the hotel very much.  When I returned from that fateful trip to the Cite Soliel my heart did not have the courage to venture out too far away to what I considered to be the safe place or hiding place.  I was supposed to be taking photographs of dad when he preached to the small churches in the city, write small blurbs about his sermons and messages for each stop but I was stuck in the hiding place that I ran back to and stayed there and did absolutely nothing that was planned for me.  Dad was not mad at all and understood my fears for in the past on previous trips he had experienced the same type of emotions when times changed from peace into war in just minutes.  The only difference was that he never froze and ran back for cover he always led his group and took them to the places where they were scheduled as long as it was safe to do so.  It is this type of hiding place that God wants to share with us and how His hiding place does not retreat or sit back and watch as things in the world develop and fall around us, what I did was childish and not what God authorized for me to do, in fact, what my actions promoted is a defeated Christian who is too chicken to inquire about the world and its need for Christ.

A while back God shared with us an article called “Home Field Advantage” and it was for a reason, for it explains just how our lives are affected by this truth and how we should respond when troubles are around us.  Satan has the home field advantage for the world is his kingdom and he rules it accordingly.  We all know that even though when games are played at an opponent’s home field or court the number of players do not change, the rules do not change but the atmosphere around the field or court makes it difficult for the visiting team to overcome.  The same thing occurs when we are going about our daily activities while on this earth, for Satan sees our purpose and the potential that our purpose presents to his defeated kingdom.  Satan does not want us to have any contact at all with those who he has convinced to stay with him but at the same time must adhere to his own chaotic environment for everyone to “enjoy”.  It is this environment that you and I are not exempt from and must face every day.  It is this environment that God says He is our hiding place as well, so why do we continue to try and skirt the truth about our living conditions while claiming to be in God’s hiding place at the same time?

One of my all time favorite songs is called “My Hiding Place” by Selah.  I cannot count how many times that this song has ministered to my heart when I needed it and it is a song that proclaims so much truth about God and His provisions to His people.  The words are very simple and they come from Psalms 32 and they represent a characteristic of God that many do not understand that He offers or misunderstand the truth about this covering in general.  If you have never heard of this song before I encourage you to listen to it and allow God to show you just how much He loves you and that He is always around you no matter what occurs in your life.  This passage as one might expect will serve as one of our Scripture passages for this article and the other passage will be Exodus 13:21-22.  I have read both of these passages before and have never connected them as being the same thing, but when God shows us something about His Word it brings it into a new light and then establishes life in our hearts which is exactly what God wants to do for it is He who is the author of such a great and eternal work and it is our responsibility to understand as much of the Bible as we can for when we do we also understand God and the wisdom that He brings.

How many know that both of these passages that we will be using are Covenant passages?  How many of you know that if these passages are Covenant verses then they must be characteristics of God?  We will start out with the passage in Exodus 13:21-22, and we find out that the children of Israel are ready at the edge of the wilderness.  The escape and procession out of Egypt were still fresh in their minds and they were well on their way to the Promised Land that God had given to them.  Now in this passage, we find that God is with them in the form of a pillar of clouds during the day and a pillar of fire at night.  Those of you who have spent any time in the desert know that during the day it becomes very hot this is a known thing but some may not know that when the sun goes down that same desert becomes cold even though the thermometer does not say as much which means that in this aspect God was with them on one level of protection.  While this may be just one level of God’s presence with them He was in fact just that, WITH them.  That cloud and that fire provided such information to them about God and His concern for their safety that it must have been a great comfort to them to see such phenomena each day and night.  How could anyone doubt the presence of God during this hike or so one would ask oneself. 

Verse 22 states that God did not take away these pillars of protection and that they were with the children of Israel as they walked through the wilderness.  It is easy for us to imagine seeing a large number of people walking through a long and hot desert for a short amount of time but this trek lasted for forty years and many of the older ones who started the journey did not live long enough to see the Promised Land due to the fact that the ones who looked up and saw these miracles above and before them could not see the sin that they continued to harbor within their lives concerning Egypt.  But the important detail here is that as they were walking in the wilderness, their everyday life at that time, God was with them which meant that His pillars were their covering of protection, their hiding place.  Their hiding place was not behind them or to the side of them, it was with them even though their present setting was a dry and ugly place.  I also find it amusing that many wanted to run back to Egypt to live in captivity again, which means they were willing to leave the presence of God in order to live in “comfortable slavery” again.

As we continue onward to the net passage we must keep in mind that once God does something and shows us a direction of His He cannot change this direction or in this case His protection, so remember this as we read the next passage of Psalms 32:7.  This verse states as follows: “Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.”  This verse alone gives us two pictures one concerning what the world provides and the other what God provides, which makes this verse a Covenant verse for we know that when God shows us something about Himself it automatically deals with Covenant.  God’s Word states that we will be around trouble at all times, why is this?  It is because all that the world can offer is trouble and adverse conditions, nothing good from the world can be ascertained for the world and its ruler represents nothing about life.

When trouble is around us it is a normal reaction to becoming nervous or scared for the calm settings that we like to fit into is gone at that moment and it is also natural for us to look for a way around this ugliness as well.  But as we all know there are times that we are successful in avoiding such disasters but other times we are stuck in the middle of the soup and must face what is going on around us.  It is this time that God says He is our hiding place and that no matter what occurs He will be with us until the end of that situation.  The outcome may not always be favorable but nevertheless, it is one that God has approved of and one that we can take restitution in.  One of the definitions of the word “compass” is to go around in a circular course and it is this meaning that David uses in describing how God is around us when trouble abounds.  God does not flee the scene and expect us to follow Him in a cowardly manner, but God surrounds us in the time of trouble and expects us to take comfort in His presence with a peaceful and joyous heart as the trouble takes its course.  It is the trouble that flees and goes away not God, which means that we do not need to flee either.

At the end of Psalms 32:7 David uses a word that has special meaning or should have special meaning to us, it is the word Selah.  It means to stop and think about what has just been said and to ponder the entire setting before proceeding to the next.  How many times have we read over this passage and kept on going without doing what David suggests we do?  I am guilty of such skipping and moving ahead without taking the time to understand what has just been presented to my heart.  God understands that no matter where we may be trouble will usually be around and that we do not have to automatically flee the area in order to be safe.  Now, God is not saying to just stand around and watch a building fall upon your head without moving we do have common sense you know, but what God is saying is that when we understand that His hiding place is around us He will provide protection in the necessary means which could mean get out of the area as soon as possible.  God’s hiding place is a moveable shelter that is over our lives and this shelter is alive and constantly aware of what is going on around us even before we do.  We do not have to run and find it, it is with us at all times as long as we fully aware of God and have Him in our lives.

It is common knowledge that our hearts like to be challenged for it is the way we learn things and how to deal with issues that we are not comfortable with.  The majority of us walking around the world have to study for tests and even though we know that they are approaching many of us to wait until the last minute to study for these challenges.  We also complain afterward about how poorly we did yet few actually blame themselves for such inadequate habits.  So, what or I should say who is to blame for these life tests when they come around for we all know that many of these issues appear out of nowhere at any time of the day or night and without warning.  Five years ago I had my third stent placed in my heart and released shortly thereafter from the hospital with a warning that the next time they would see me I probably would be having a bypass done on my heart.  On Monday, 24 September 2018 I went to work as usual without any complaints, but within a few hours of my workday, I found myself on a helicopter riding to the nearest medical center for a heart procedure.  The next day I woke up after a triple bypass on my heart and my recovery process began again, this time with a longer recovery time needed.  Was I expecting this or did I foresee this coming as I drove myself to work that day?  No way!  It was a surprise and a life-changing event.

During my flight to the medical center, I felt a peace come over me with a voice that spoke and said that all was going to be okay, it would be a longer recovery but to trust me during this time period.  At the time I did not have this article’s outline written down for God had not given it to me but when He did I remembered those words He spoke to me over the loud rotors of that helicopter which proved to me that my hiding place was with me even though I was facing a troublesome procedure the next day.  My wilderness might have been a short time in comparison to that of the Israelites but the process and God’s protection was just the same, He was there and I did not have to run anywhere to be in His hiding place.  I could have easily been totally lost and have lost my sense of reality, but at no time was I nervous enough with my surroundings to come unhinged and worry about what I was facing.  It would have been my choice to run back and to try to find God and His hiding place for me and if I did such a thing I would have not found Him because I would have been the one that left Him.  What is most concerning to God when we “run away and try to find Him” is that when we do such a thing all we can do is find the world for we cannot recognize that God is already with us.  It is this reason that another Psalm tells us to be still.

Ever see a retreat move in the forward direction?  Uh, the definition of retreat means to go backward or in a backward direction which is where my favorite saying from General Patton comes into play for if one decides to retreat it means that you must pay for that real estate again that you worked hard for previously.  Something to think about here, when you retreat and believe that this move is the only option your beliefs about God serve only as a memory and thus you cannot understand that He is alive and can only operate in one direction.  Either God is alive in your life and you recognize His presence or you do not and since you live in a country where church is an everyday option it means that God is only some kind of memory that your mind thought about at one point in your life.  A memorial (memory) is suggestive that God is dead to you or lives someplace elsewhere except within your heart which if in accordance to this stance would mean that He is not your shield and protector which would mean that when trouble arises you would naturally retreat to a safe place, just as I did in Haiti.

So once again God asks the question if you believe in Him and believe that He is with why would you run back to any place behind you in order to seek refuge in His hiding place?  The lesson here that God wants us to know is that when the Israelites were walking around in the wilderness He was with them at all times.  Also, in Psalms 32 when David states that God is his hiding place he is talking to God which means David understood that God was with him, right then and there not on some far-off mountaintop that is unreachable.  Today, God wants us to know that He is in the exact same place as He was in these two passages of Scripture, WITH US.  There is no need to run anywhere when troubles are around us, in fact, it is when trouble abounds that we need to keep our heads up, our ears listening and our eyes open so that when God does give us directions we know what to do and where to go.  This is a Covenant article and one that we need to become familiar with so we can teach this comfort to others.  By definition, God cannot retreat or take back anything He has set into motion, which means if we run backward then we are running away from Him and thus accepting our fate alone.

Has God ever taken back or withdrawn any of His letters of His definition?  I mean, His definition begin the Bible, the Word of God.  No, He has not and He never shall either and since we are His children do you understand what that means according to this definition?  The Bible that I mainly use for studying was given to me by my father.  It was one of his older Bibles that he used when he preached; I do not know how long he used it but from the writing that is in the margins I would say it was used for many years.  One of these markings that is present that I have come across is located at the top of the page that begins 2 Corinthians and it says this: “We are Christ’s letters to the world”.  Have any of you ever considered this truth about your lives?  We know that we are supposed to be witnesses to the world but letters?  When we look at this saying in the context of the epistles of the New Testament it becomes clear about what my father is saying, the stories of our lives serve as guidelines to others about what to do and what not to do and somehow we need to listen to Paul when he gives us instructions about our conduct.  In this case “Paul” is Christ and it is His words of instruction that we need to adhere to and there is no way possible in doing such work if we are running from issues and trouble.

The epistles of the New Testament show the Church running in countless directions as trouble approaches and it is trouble that they themselves have created due to beliefs in false doctrines and ridiculous practices.  They were about to face real troubles and face the gallows of governmental persecution and those conditions would just be the beginning of what the faithful would have to endure throughout the ages.  How can we face these types of everyday troubles if we do not realize where God is?  It is impossible to understand what to do if we run away from issues just as the world does yet for some reason we ignore our purpose and mission and drop all of our possessions and run away following those in reactive chaos.  Can anyone explain why this is the case?  Why are we running away and performing worldly applications in response to what is going on around us?  Why are we not telling people that the actions that they are conveying actually prove God’s Word correct and that if we continue in such strides that some point soon in time our entire way of life will change for the worse?  The answer to these questions is that we no longer recognize that God is around us because we have adopted the world as our leader and pushed God aside.

In both of these passages that God has given us today exemplify the fact that He is with us at all times.  In Exodus, God went before the people both day and night which means He was with them at all times.  In Psalms 32, David states at the beginning of this verse “Thou art” which means “You are” or “He is” and means that God is around at all times, He is present and not a past tense god that the world promotes.  It is evident that today’s Church does not convey this type of identity with God and it is sad that we have run away so far from what our mission is that we cannot know what that definition I any longer, yet at the same time we look towards the heavens and cry out to nothing for we cannot even see that God is right in front of us.  The reason is that our hearts have become so discolored with sin which comes from our birth inheritance but instead of allowing God to cover this sin properly we have allowed our rotting heart layers to infiltrate the remaining layers of our lives that surround our black hearts.  We have believed the lie that we have no real concern about how our hearts look, Satan gives us this fact but it is how we treat such evil that matters and as long as we continue to hear his voice instead of God’s voice we shall never understand God nor will we know that our help is right in front of our eyes.

How can God be our defense when we do not even recognize His presence around us?  How foolish we are when we run away from God to call upon His name while standing in a so-called safe zone?  Church, we have lost our hearts to this world and we need to turn our lives back over to God, completely.  It is not difficult to figure out that this world is becoming worse on every level as each day passes, so why do we continue to stand with this liar?  We must quickly and 100% repent and once again begin to teach the lost that Jesus Christ is the only way to peace and eternal life.  We must end the lies against life and begin to teach life as the only option for existence.  God is our present and future hiding place and if we take a hard look back at those times in our life when trouble was all around we shall see that God was in the exact same place as He is today, right next to us.  We do not need to run anywhere when trouble arrives, but stand still and allow God to be our hiding place and a place of refuge.  Our hearts need to be covered properly or at some point in time, God shall begin to peel away those layers of His precious Creations in order to make our lives whole again, His way and not ours.

DLB