A Shooting Star

My dog is a very particular dog sometimes. Most nights, when we are getting ready to go to bed, we let him out so he doesn’t wake us up early to get outside. At night when we let him out, he doesn’t like to do this alone (maybe he’s afraid of a vacuum hiding in the darkness near the bushes?) Being summertime, I don’t mind following him out the door and insisting he actually goes down the stairs. In this time, I get to sit outside where there is little light, and close to no noise.

Tonight, as I was waiting a particularly long time for him, I looked up to notice a perfectly clear sky. We don’t get those very often in Grimsby, between cloudy nights or pollution converging from Hamilton and St. Catharines. As I was looking towards the Niagara Escarpment, I saw a shooting star, from start, right to disappearing forever. And I couldn’t help but feel the warmth and love of Christ as I stood there knowing that the star was just for me (I know, a bit pretentious, but for the sake of this post, let’s just go with it).

I love nature. I enjoy sitting at my desk with my curtains wide open. I love going for walks, especially into forests or on the beach. My family and I went camping a few weeks ago and I was able to really see the beauty in creation. It is always amazing to be able to be away from home, in parks or camping areas, where the location is chosen specifically for its beautiful surroundings.

But why can’t we find this joy at home? Why do we always have to be deep in a forest, far away on a beach in Mexico, or even gazing at a picture on the computer? God’s beautiful creation is all around us, no matter where you are. The small blades of grass that together make up a wonderfully green lawn.  The lines in a leaf. The colours of the trees along the Escarpment in the fall. A shooting star.

There’s no huge life lesson here, and I didn’t just discover the answer to life, the universe and everything. I was just outside with my dog when God sent me a simple reminder to enjoy and cherish the beautiful creation He has blessed us with that is all around us no matter where we are. Through all of these simple little things, we are all granted a small taste of heaven, and God’s beauty as our Wonderful Creator.

So next time you step outside, take a moment to notice creation, and thank our perfect Father for revealing his beauty in a fallen world.

You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you. -Nehemiah 9:6

The Hiding Place

You are my hiding place and my shield. Psalm 119:114

You know those days that just won’t end? The ones where we just want to get home and sit and do nothing? Or that last week before vacation that drags on and on? We all need rest. We need time off, time to ourselves. Introverts prefer and enjoy time alone, but ALL of us, even loud, bubbly extroverts, need time alone. Someone once told me that other people are like my battery. I seem quiet and shy but once there are more people around, I light up and get involved. But even I love the time in my room with just me. We all get exhausted. We all drain out eventually. And a lot of us feel better after some time hiding away in our rooms, at a coffee shop or at our favourite park. Heck, maybe even in a tree. But wherever it is, it’s your place. Your hiding place.

This time alone helps us to feel rejuvenated, refreshed, and ready to face another day. But what this time should really help us do is get closer to God.  

When it comes to our relationship with God, a 2 minute prayer in the morning while brushing our teeth just doesn’t cut it. Just like when we pray in bed each night but instead of saying Amen we start snoring: it’s just not enough. We need time with God. We need time away from the distractions of this world to really focus on and connect with God. We need to meet with God. To talk to Him. To praise Him. To know Him.

Even Jesus needed this time alone with God. Matthew 14:23 says “…he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.” Jesus took the time to not only find a secluded place to spend time with God, but he went by himself. In Mark 1:35, “rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.” Desolate meaning alone, once again he prays. In this instance, it’s “very early in the morning, while it was still dark.” If that was the only time he had, Jesus wasn’t going to let sleep get in the way of his time alone with God. In Mark 6:45, after having just performed a miracle of feeding five thousand, and knowing that the intention of the crowds (and the disciples) were to make him king, he dismissed everyone, disciples included and “went up on the mountain to pray.” The intentions of the crowds were tempting. But Jesus immediately went up to be alone with God. Went to find refuge and strength in his Father.

So if Jesus, our perfect Saviour and Redeemer, needing time alone with God doesn’t prove just how desperately we, as sinful human beings, need time alone with God, I don’t know what will.

In Mark 6:31 Jesus says to his disciples “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” After having modeled this to them himself, Jesus encourages his disciples to have some time away, resting in God. Jesus has modeled this for us as well, and also encourages us to do the same. We are such hopelessly pitiful creatures that depend on God for even our next breath. So in this, shouldn’t we be taking time away, in our hiding place, spending time with God? Learning about our creator. Seeing his beauty, His grace, His love for us. Beginning to understand Christ’s sacrifice, and what it means for me, for you. All of this comes by hiding away with God and giving him all your attention.

Now this won’t come easily, I know. In our culture, we have so much going on around us, so much to do, so many demands. Don’t worry, even Jesus encountered this. In Luke 4:42 Jesus was in his hiding place with God “and the people sought him and came to him.” There are people all around us. Some of us work very demanding jobs. Some of us have families to take care of and children to nurture and love. But Jesus modeled a life of dependence on God which included going out to desolate places to pray. In some instances (Luke 4:42) he didn’t get his time away. But most other times, even when Judas was coming with the crowds from the chief priests and elders to arrest him (Mark 14:32-34), Jesus still put time aside to pray, because he knew how important it was.

Yes, there will be distractions and there will be times when you just don’t feel like it. But what we need to understand is that it is always more important to spend time with God. More important than your crafts, your favourite t.v. shows and yes, more important even than those work emails or that phone call to your sister.

Having said all of this, I named this blog “The Hiding Place” because that’s what it will be for me. This will be my hiding place for spending time with God, for getting to know Jesus and become more and more like him. Everyone’s hiding place will be different. Some will be very secretive and quiet about it, and others will be obvious. I chose to name this “The Hiding Place” instead of “My Hiding Place” because I want this to be a place anyone can use. As I spend my time hiding away with God, I will contemplate, learn, get confused, get frustrated, read a book, sing some worship songs, and more. But ultimately I will grow closer and closer to my Saviour every time. And I will share some of it here. And hopefully what I share can help you to also learn, love, sing and know God in your personal hiding place.