Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.
Psalm 32:7 speaks of God as a hiding place. He is the one who preserves the Psalmist from trouble. There’s a lot of teaching within Christianity that suggests the Christian is immune to trouble, that all our life should be a walk in the park on a beautiful day, comfortable temperature, sunshine, and a nice cup of tea at the end of the walk.
Scripture paints a very different picture of the Christian life. We are aware that because the world is under the curse of sin, there will be all manner of troubles which come into our lives. We labor and toil, we face challenges. Many in this world face poverty, hunger, and disease on a daily basis. Life is hard. People are often unforgiving. There’s someone trying to take advantage of you everywhere you turn.
A friend was telling me about the hardships in the part of the world he comes from. The area where his family lived has been involved in warfare for some years. It’s uninhabitable. Really? The buildings have been reduced to rubble, the streets are impassible. It is quite literally uninhabitable. What did all the survivors of the conflict do? They left. They really didn’t have a choice.
There comes a time when it is very obvious that we need God as our hiding place. We need him to preserve us from trouble. We realize that nobody else can or will.
The good news of the Bible is not that we are able to live out this earthly life in bliss, prosperity, and health. The good news is that sin is real and God’s work of forgiveness, His work to reconcile the world to himself, is even more real than the consequences of sin.
Jesus has conquered sin, death, and the grave for you and for me. He shows this through His blessed resurrection. What more do we look for? He will deliver us safely. In the meantime, we can hide in him, under his protection, even through all the enemy’s armies are fighting and destroying the places we live. And sometimes, once in a while, we are even blessed to take that walk in the park on a beautiful day, and enjoy the cup of tea at the end of the walk. Thanks be to God.
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