Hiding Place

You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance (Psalm 32:7).

As a girl, my favorite place was a hiding place. To be honest, it probably still is. A good hiding place makes life’s storms easier to bear.

I grew up under the shadow of a great mountain. Rocky crags and moss-covered cliffs rose like watchful protectors above our small community. I ran to them for the shelter I could not find within the walls of my childhood home.

I don’t remember the moment I discovered the cleft in the rock, but it became my refuge. I could just fit inside with enough room to lean my back against one wall and rest my knees on the opposite. It was the ideal place to hide.

One day as I was exploring the mountain, a sudden storm came with high wind and heavy rain. I scrambled into my secret place and waited, watching the torrent outside with fascination. I was safe and dry as the world turned sideways.

When the anger was too much in our house I would climb the distance to my hiding place and tuck into the quiet until my heart stilled again. When I was afraid, I would run to the rock and find strength in its solid silence. Some of my earliest conversations with God happened in the cleft of that rock.

As an adult, I have often longed for the safety of the cleft. Its strong image has stayed me many times during my healing journey. As I gaze back over the landscape of my life, the hiding place stands like a promise, a memorial of God’s faithfulness to a wounded and frightened little girl.

I’m all grown now, and I’ve ventured far from that mountain. But I still have a hiding place, a cleft in the rock made just for me. It is a sure shelter, a safe refuge for my heart. I can run to it any time.

You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm driving against a wall and like the heat of the desert (Isaiah 25:4).

The Lord is my Rock and He is my God. He is constant, a Shelter from the storm, and a Shade from the heat.

Then the Lord said, “There is a place near Me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by” (Exodus 33:21).

God invites me to stand on the rock, a place right by Him. He has created a cleft for me and His hand hides me there. What magnificence to be covered by His hand! What security!

For He will conceal me in His shelter in the day of adversity; He will hide me under the cover of His tent; He will set me high on a rock. Then my head will be high above my enemies around me; I will offer sacrifices in His tent with shouts of joy. I will sing and make music to the Lord (Psalm 27:5-6).

God is a shelter in troubled times. The Lord Himself conceals me from my enemies. He sets my feet high upon a rock so I can see above the chaos. Past it to a future filled with hope. He holds my hand and clears my head. Lament gives way to joyful shouting as I worship my great Rock, my Hiding Place.

Do you need a hiding place? If you are facing a storm today, run to the Rock. God is a refuge in times of trouble. #comfort #help #peace Click To Tweet

Hide in the cleft and listen to the silence. Be stilled by His strength and be calmed by His presence. Trust Him, lie down, and rest.

Though the world turns sideways, you will find peace and safety for your soul.

Lord, hide me today. Quiet my heart and shield me from the storm. Amen.

@audreycfrank