This great little nugget was hidden in my quiet time today and I immediately thought, "yes Lord - oh how I need you to be a hiding place and shield for me." And then I sat with it a little longer and some images started popping into my mind.
Like in Lord of the Rings - Two Towers - where they are standing behind their tall shields looking out into the darkness and rain hearing the awful chants of the opposing army. Like when Rahab hides the spies in her roof, silently waiting under stalks of flax while the king's men question her. Like when David is hiding in the inner recesses of a cave knowing Saul is chasing him all over the land trying to kill him.
Hiding and needing a shield gives us a perspective of our normal life condition. We live a life in danger - in the presence of an enemy we are incapable of fighting on our own. This isn't a greeting card picture - sweet sounding solace in the Lord. This is a reminder that we are needing to get behind His shield. We need to hide behind, put ourselves under, in the care of, under the protection of, in the dependence of, in hope in, with trust in....not ourselves, but Him.
This is a picture of submission...humility...faith.
And here in this place - we wait.
We aren't immediately filled. We aren't suddenly comforted. We don't have resolution to the problem. No - we wait. We wait on Him and His word. We wait on truth. We wait on the perspective of the One who has gone before and comes behind and surrounds us with Himself.
To truly put ourselves under His care is also to trust in His timing. To believe that while the battle rages around us that we are safe with Him and in the right time He will bring clarity.
Back to the Two Towers battle scene - the battle is loud - the sky is dark - the soldiers are muddied - it's hard to see with the rain and the darkness surrounding and all you hear is the chant of those opposing you. A shield doesn't make you immune to the battle. And it isn't all comfy cozy.
God was with David in the darkness but it still gave David all that experience to compose Psalms of desperation and cries for help. David followed Gods command through the caves and the darkness all the way to a throne. Jesus followed God's will to a cross and to hell - all to bring us peace. All so that we could trust Him when He says, "Do not be afraid."
It isn't wrong to need to hide or even cry out from our hiding place, oh Lord, how long? But the first step is ours - to place ourselves under His care. And be ready to wait for His word. O Lord, grant us the faith to our ourselves fully in Your care and the patience to hear Your voice in Your perfect timing.
No comments:
Post a Comment