My Hiding Place

"It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain." - Isaiah 4:6 .(NIV).

I had just finished planting the last flowers that I had planned to put into my garden. When I had finished, I proceeded to look it over, and I thought, "My! how God must have marveled over Eden." Everything was to my liking, and now, all I had to do was water, weed, and feed. I took time to sit and look upon the garden with a certain sense of accomplishment and a sense of quietness from within.

Then, as I gazed up into the depth of the bright blue sky, I watched the puffy white clouds, some so small that they simply disappeared from view like the vapor they are. Other clouds were dark and heavy, hiding the sun from view. Then, suddenly, the sun poked a hole through the clouds, the clouds broke away, and the sun etched the rounded edges with a glitter that was like gold, a glow that dazzled my eyes.

These two moments together seemed to me to be a heaven-sent opportunity to feel, to touch, to smell, to observe, to be still, and not to speak, but just to be in the presence of God.

It might be referred to as my hiding place, a place, though in the world, yet away from the world, and a place of escape. We all need to have a hiding place, to be alone with God in prayer, to take time to listen, to look up far into the sky, to take time away in silence, to meditate, and to appreciate God's gifts and the awesome greatness that is beyond and, at the same time, within.

God help us to make time, to mark time, like putting a bookmark where we left off, so that we might return to this place again.