Monday Morning Devo - A Time to Hide

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me. Plasms 139:7-10

Sometimes I feel a need to go hide. No, not from God--just from the world in general. I like to take God with me.

One of our favorite places is the Mendocino Coast. It's peaceful there, at least during the week. It gets a little hectic on weekends--half of San Francisco descends on the place. But during the week it's possible to take long walks and only meet one or two people along the way, usually walking their dogs.

That's what I intend to do soon. My dog and I are going to the coast and take long walks. There's something about the wave action on the beaches and rocks that melts tension, that soothes ruffled edges.

I can talk to God along the way, and the few people I see won't look at me weird. They'll think I either have a bluetooth or that I'm talking to the dog.

Hiding can be a good thing for a little time; at least as long as we don't be hermits for too long a time. Those of you who have lost dear ones know what I mean. You would like to crawl into a hole and stay there. But remember--don't hide from God. Not that you can. But sometimes we try, don't we? We just want to be alone.

Because grieving is a lonely process.

God isn't like the rest of the world. God is the one who holds us and lets us cry. He's the one who listens while we rant and rave against the disease or accident or deliberate act that took our dear one away from us. Jesus wept with Mary and Martha (John 11) because he sympathized with their grief, and He weeps with us even while He has our loved one safely with Him, whole and sound.

And He goes with us into hiding, waiting patiently for us to turn to Him and let Him heal our hearts.

Lord--what a wondrous God You are! I don't understand how You can be rejoicing with another person at the same time You're hiding with me, but I'm so very glad You do. Amen.