A Safe Place to Hide

“You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.”  Psalm 32:9 (NIV)

There is a lot of talk about safety in recent days.  How do we keep our children safe in school? How do we protect ourselves against violence?  The truth is, there is no safety in this world.  We are in danger everywhere—restaurants, shopping malls, churches—even in the best of neighborhoods.  The idea of being safe is really an illusion.  We think if we can just control our environment, nothing bad will happen.  There’s just one problem—we cannot control evil. Man is not evolving into a sinless creature.  Evil has existed from the time man was first created and it clearly is still with us today. 

The Bible tells us that God is our “hiding place”.  Does this mean we will never encounter evil or suffer at the hands of a madman?  The answer is “No”.  But it does mean that we will be kept in His peace, in every circumstance, knowing that whatever happens in our life has passed through His hands for a purpose. God doesn’t waste anything—He can use even the most tragic circumstances for good. Sometimes this can be impossible to understand, but God reminds us in Isaiah 55:8 that “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways”. It all goes back to having that child-like faith. He is a trustworthy Father and we need not fear. We live with the knowledge that life is fragile and can end at any time. For that reason, we make the most of each day God gives us, knowing that when those days are over, we will spend eternity with Him in a place where there are no tears or sorrow.