My hiding place

[toad]

“You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance.” PSALM 32:7 NASB

Remember when you were a kid how much fun it was to have a hiding place? I recall some of my best times playing were not with the toys that I had accumulated over the years that just sat there, but with two or three kitchen chairs and a couple of blankets. Remember how we used to set the chairs up and then drape the blankets over them to make our forts and hiding places. A nice large cardboard box could be a lot of fun when it was used as a hiding place. As I became a young adult I can remember using a car as a hiding place. I can remember times when I wouldn’t drive anywhere, but would just sit behind the wheel and hide. Rainy dark evenings were a real good time to hide in the front seat of my car. I’m not talking about hiding from someone or something, but just being in a place where I could be alone with my thoughts. Today I am never alone with my thoughts, I have the Father who keeps me and comforts me during my times of solitude. I realize today that I have really never been alone, the Father has always been there with me, even though there were times when I though I was all alone. I have several places today where I can escape to for solitude, peace, and quiet, but I have learned that my best hiding place I carry with me at all times. It’s a place in my heart where I meet with the Father, it’s a place where I have learned to go to when all hell breaks forth. I am sitting in my hiding place right now, and the feeling I have is very similar to when I was a child and I was under the chairs with the blankets draped over. It’s just God and myself, as we ponder David’s hiding place and the music that he sings of in his psalm. Song of deliverance, songs of freedom, songs of victory, songs about God doing for David what he could not do for himself. God also does for me what I could not do for myself. Thanks for letting me share this…………………….toad

“The worshiping heart does not create its Object. It finds Him here when it wakes from its mortal slumber in the morning of its regeneration.”
A.W. TOZER…………….The Pursuit Of God, page 53

[kelsh]

Hi Toad,

It seems you must have been a friend of mine when I used to put blankets over chairs and had a big card board box to climb into. My brother and I used to play like this especially on rainy days.

I have always sought out a place of solitude for myself to think and meditate. I also used to take my youngest child with me on beautiful days and drive for one hour one way and then drive back home another way.

I have been able to find my way now that I am sober. When still drinking I couldn't go for drives or find a neat place to be alone because I was always drunk or trying to figure out when I could drink again. My mind didn't have any room for my special thoughts & guess I didn't have special thoughts until I sobered up and started working the AA Program.

Thanks for the memories.

kelsh

[cmc]

I had some great hiding places as a child before and after I became a Christian. I had a few places out in the woods near my home where I sensed His presence in an almost tangible way. One of those places was where 'my' lily of the valley flowers had spread out over the forest floor near an old foundation of a burned out homesteaded property. The house was completely gone, but the 'garden' lived on for many years.
Toad, your reflections about the homemade forts brought back wonderful memories of my sons and I turning several rooms of the house into 'forts' where we ate, took naps and played board games. There were plenty of times when I found my boys just hanging out under the blanketed 'rooftops' just daydreaming. I would let them 'keep' the forts up for days sometimes.
I really like this quote about true worship.

“The worshiping heart does not create its Object. It finds Him here when it wakes from its mortal slumber in the morning of its regeneration.”
A.W. TOZER…………….The Pursuit Of God, page 53

Many times I have failed to realize that when I followed 'my idea' or 'my visualization' of God...that I was attempting to create an image of Him that suited ME. Anything that has been created of and by God is clearly not to be worshipped. The Ten Commandments and many other scriptures make that clear. I learned that if my idea of God is not in accordance with scripture, my worship becomes idolatry. In my mind if I 'worship' or inappropriately place values onto God- I have created my own idol. It doesn't have to be a golden calf or a statue or an alternative religion that takes the place of worshipping the one true God, who is the Father, Son & Holy Spirit.
I recommend reading the entire chapter of John 4 regarding worship. Here are parts of that chapter where Jesus says:
You Samaritans worship something you don't understand. We understand what we worship, because salvation comes from the Jews. God is a spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. (v.22,24)