WHEN YOU JUST WANT TO HIDE ~ 5/29/09

It’s been a rough week. Nothing drastic, nothing earth-shattering, horrible or serious – I’ve just felt down, felt discouraged, felt drained, felt attacked. These are the kinds of weeks I just want to find a safe place and HIDE. Have you ever felt that way? More importantly, do you know where to go when you do?

For our mutual encouragement, I’ve found the lyrics to three amazing songs from three drastically different eras – but with one vital similarity: they each hold out a map to a treasure that was buried, but now lives above ground, a map to the treasure, rest and safety that is Jesus.
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Rock of Ages (Augustus M. Toplady, 1740-1778)
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
let the water and the blood,
from thy wounded side which flowed,
be of sin the double cure;
save from wrath and make me pure.

Hiding Place (Michael Ledner,1981,1983)
You are my hiding place,
You always fill my heart
With songs of deliverance
Whenever I am afraid,
I will trust in You --

I will trust in you --
Let the weak say
‘I am strong
In the strength of the LORD,’
I will trust in You.

Hallelujah (10th Avenue North, 2008)
You spread Your hands
And made a refuge for the weak and blessed
The weary, bruised, and broken
Took our sin. Inside Your wounds we hide away
Inside Your wounds we hide!
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In Jesus we can hide from all our inadequacies.
In Jesus we can hide from our own self-judgments, as well as the judgment of others.
In Jesus we can hide from our past,
We can hide from our failures,
We can hide from our guilt,
From our shame,
From our fear,
From the world,
exhaustion,
sickness,
pain,
depression,
From disappointment,
From all we really deserve,
From the power of sin and the sting of death.

In Jesus we can hide from all the things that would torment us, and none of them can follow us because, as the accuser seeks frantically to point us out to God the Father, and as a perfectly Just God looks to rightly annihilate all that stands against His holiness, Jesus tells us to keep our heads down, steps out from His own perfect safety and walks purposely, directly, into the line of fire,
Directly into the finger-pointing, blame shrieking onslaught of the accuser,
And into his hatred
And the sneers
And the mockery
And the bruises
And the pain,
And the guilt.

He steps out from His own perfect safety and walks purposely, directly, into the line of fire,
Directly into the holy wrath of Jehovah napalm, the God of fire,
To take the blame,
To take the hit
To take the punishment
and all the other wounds we’ve been inflicted with as victims or have stored up for ourselves by choice, He takes them, and becomes the victim in our place -- by choice. And the accuser is furious. But the Father is satisfied.
Jesus takes the mortal and immortal wounds meant for us, and because of His wounding, we are forever camouflaged by grace to live our mortal and immortal lives to the fullest. Take your wounded heart to Jesus. He is the only safe place to hide, to heal, and then to thrive. Thank you Jesus.

Surrounded By Grace,
Josh