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Have you ever wondered why we all try to find a hiding place of some sort or another? Because we need one. Oh, do we need one. We are needy, helpless beings who really aren’t very good at taking care of ourselves. I don’t care what the humanistic philosophy preaches about self-sufficiency, the fact is, we need a hiding place. We don’t do a very good job of dealing with pain and problems. So, we hide just to cover up—to pretend we’re okay when we’re not; to forget; to escape; to heal; to survive.
That’s okay. God knows we need to hide. That’s why he says: “He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge…” (Psalm 91:4). That’s why David wrote: “The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble” (Psalm 9:9). And in Psalm 32:7: “You are my hiding place, you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.”
Paul wrote to the Colossians that we should set our “minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:2-3). That sounds strange, doesn’t it? I died? My life is hidden? Doesn’t seem that way to me, but Galatians 2:20 sheds more light on this: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Now, when you understand that your life is hidden with Christ in God, and that you no longer live but Christ lives in you, then you don’t have to find other hiding places. You know that you have the hiding place that will work.
You see, the problem with all those other hiding places is they are temporary. Eventually their effect wears off and you’re exposed again to the hurts and pains of this world.
God knows you need a hiding place. He has provided one for you in Jesus Christ. Why would you hide anywhere else? I encourage you to hide in the right place: Jesus Christ. He alone is our true refuge and shield.