God’s Secret Place

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1 KJV

I love hiking up into the woods, and finding a quiet spot to just sit, and listen to the songs of the birds, the buzz of a stray bee or the rustle of small animals in the brush. For me that is my secret place, but on the day that Jesus died, the kind of secret place that needed to be found, was not a wooded glen, but rather place for Him to be buried. So, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus took down the body of our Savior and wrapped Him in linen cloths. Then they carried Him to a tomb cut out of a rocky hillside and gently laid Him on a stone shelf. They hurried to finish before sunset, because by the Jewish law they must finish before the Sabbath began. Last of all they quickly rolled a stone over the entrance and headed home. But that was not the end of the story. Jesus wasn’t placed in His tomb because He had failed, Death had not defeated Him, neither had sin won. Instead, behind that stone, in the secret place, He rested in the shadow of the Almighty. He had given His life into the hands of His Father, and now He simply rested until the moment when the stone would be rolled away. Maybe, the shadow of death has fallen across your path today, and you feel forgotten, broken and defeated. But just as the darkness of the tomb was not the end of the story for Jesus, so it is also not the end for anyone who will put their trust in Him. He has chosen a Secret Place for us for a season, so that in its quietness we may hear HIs voice, inviting us to trust Him and to rest in His shadow.

Waiting by the Brook

And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land. 1 Kings 17:6-7 ESV

God told Elijah to go to the brook Cherith, where he would be protected and provided for, but that brook in the desert probably didn’t seem like an ideal location. There also are times in our lives when it seems like we are just sitting by a brook, and God has forgotten us. Just like Elijah, our daily routine seems pointless and strange. But in that quiet place God puts a brook for us to drink from and during those silent chapters of our lives he often sends something or someone as humble as ravens to meet our needs.

Though the Brook Cherith eventually dried up, Elijah learned that God could take care of his needs in surprising ways. Elijah didn’t complain or worry, instead he patiently waited till God told Him what to do next. So, if like Elijah, it feels as if you are on a dead-end street remember that that God often cares for us in unusual ways, through unexpected people for as long as He determines, so we that can learn to trust Him and be ready to move on when the brook dries up!

Photo by Aflah on Pexels.com

His Plans

The last two weeks as we traveled North for the memorial service for our daughter -in-law have passed with a blur of hotels, phone calls, long days on the road and exhaustion. But the last several days we were blessed to be invited to rest at the lake house of our friends. I had visions of sitting out on the water, just thinking and being alone, but God surprised us with a 100-year flood, and we ended up in the house doing puzzles and just talking, drinking tea and sharing memories. Those moments I tried to capture with the words of a short poem, that I hoped might be a blessing to somebody today.

His Plans / My Plans

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

My plan was for quiet walks
To think long thoughts of sorrows
His was for me to be with friends
To talk about tomorrows

I planned for fishing on the lake
With quiet sunny weather
But He sent thunderstorms and floods
That shut us in together

He planned for me to stand and trust
Though I tried to run and hide
And while I wrestled in the dark
He drew me to His side.

His Plans / My Plans
by Peter Caligiuri
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