Hiding Place

Each of us has one place in our life where we hide. Maybe, our bedroom, when we just want to disconnect from the chaos outside. Maybe, your mom, whom you confide to when you feel confused and worried. Maybe, your best friend, to whom you lean on when in need of a listening ear. Maybe, your favorite coffee or snacks, which you savor with enjoyment to have a momentary amnesia of the pain. Maybe, a jog or a brisk walk, to keep your mind off the negative things coursing through your feelings. Maybe, your work, to keep you busy and to get your mind off the need to worry and be weary of thinking. They all have the same role. The role to keep us hidden from pain and weariness of life.

I remember the time when my father died after just one year when my mother died, I felt so bereft. That was the time I realized what it feels like to be alone. I mean, I am an only child, and when both of my parents were gone, it just suddenly felt like, I have no one else in life. Right after his burial, I got back to work immediately. For me, to spend my time at home and not working would be unbearable. I have to keep my mind busy so that I would not be able to think of the loss and the pain it brings. So, from then on, I kept at my job and I relish the fact that I was too busy for anything else. Being busy kept me sane. It was my way of coping. My work had been a hiding place for me. But when I lay down to sleep each night, lonely thoughts flooded me. And I could not stay awake to work just to keep my mind busy. In those moments, my work could not be a hiding place. So I turned to one thing that could truly heal my heart and my mind. I turned to God. I prayed. And, I still do up to now.

Prayer has been the greatest hiding place I have ever been to. It is the safest place because prayer puts us in the will and hand of God. It is the most secure place, because when we pray, we come to the presence of the Creator of heavens and earth who holds everything into place. It is the place of deliverance because when we pray we are led to salvation from our troubles. God said, “Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear.” – Isaiah 65:24. When we pray, we are calling to God for help. It is an act of dependence to God and it glorifies his name when his children seek him. It is his pleasure to help us when we are in need.

Make God your hiding place. When you feel the need to hide or even when you do not need to hide, make God your hiding place. Life is never certain, but when we make God our hiding place, we stand secure. He preserves our life with peace, joy, and protection. David says of God, “For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.” -Psalm 27:5.