Run out of the cave!

I was cranky for most of the day today and I have no idea why.  It was just one of those days where I felt enclosed by a variety of things and the way I can tend to react to those times is just retreat.  Most times when I get into that mode, I feel like I need to be rescued … rescued from the encasement.  Often, that encasement is of my own making.

During my daily reading this week through Numbers 22 – 28, Psalms 139 – 145, and 2 Kings 13 - 19, I was reminded of a time when David was stuck in an encasement … a cave.  In his case, he was hiding from the lunatic King Saul who was on the hunt for David.

In Psalm 142, we read …

I cry out to the Lord; I plead for the Lord’s mercy.  I pour out my complaints before him and tell him all my troubles.  When I am overwhelmed, you alone know the way I should turn.  Wherever I go, my enemies have set traps for me.  I look for someone to come and help me, but no one gives me a passing thought!  No one will help me; no one cares a bit what happens to me.  Then I pray to you, O Lord.  I say, “You are my place of refuge.  You are all I really want in life.  Hear my cry, for I am very low.  Rescue me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me.  Bring me out of prison so I can thank you.  The godly will crowd around me, for you are good to me.

David was literally in a cave, hiding for his life from a king who wanted him dead.  He was in mortal danger and was in a place where the world literally felt like it was encroaching on his ability to breathe.  In fact, the very person from whom he was hiding found him in that cave.  The anxiety and fear that was gripping him as he ran to safety was only budding more and more.  In fairness, that was NOT my situation today.  Few of us ever experience that real sort of suffocating pressure, fear or stress.

But life does dole out its strain and anxiety.  Sometimes it’s immense to the point of near-paralysis, and other times it’s just enough to put us in a crabby mood.  Admittedly, most of the time for me … I just get crabby (ask Helen … haha).

Let’s set aside for the moment the fact that most of the time the situations we let hang us up are insignificant at best … innocuous circumstances that we nurture, water, fertilize (word chosen purposely) into giant seemingly world-ending events.  In short, we make mountains out of mole hills and seek out the first cave we can climb into.  Whether the occurrences are real or contrived, David’s words in Psalm 142 provide hope for us … a rescue rope to pull us out of the cave.

Who did David acknowledge from the get-go that he needed to reach out to in his anguish?  He said, “I cry out to the LORD.”  No matter where we are … or how real or imagined our state of affairs might be … God is there for us to “pour out [our] complaints before him and tell him all [our] troubles.”  He reminds us, “when I am overwhelmed, You alone know the way I should turn.”  David was in hiding for his life and he was wise enough … even in his youth … to know that God was the first person he should seek out, not the help of last resort like many of us do.

I love watching the show Survivorman.  Les Stroud, the star of the show is astoundingly able to survive in the craziest places and under the most unbelievable circumstances.  For him, during a survival situation, a cave is a haven.  It provides protection and cover from the elements.  However, a cave in and of itself is insufficient to provide long-term care and sustenance.  In the same way, the cave for David’s hiding, and the caves we construct for ourselves, cannot provide for us provision or nourishment forever.  For this reason, David reached out to God, and by virtue of his words, he admonishes us to do the same.  I love how David expresses this in the Psalm: “You are my place of refuge.  You are all I really want in life.  Hear my cry, for I am very low.  Rescue me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me.  Bring me out of prison so I can thank you.”

God wants to be our hiding place, our place of protection.  Not just for the short-term, but for good.  Not just in times of trouble, but always.  Not just in (seemingly) little affairs, but in the grand schemes of life.  Not just to the kings, the privileged, the “holy”, but to all His creation and those of us that call Him our Lord.

No matter what mood you’re in, or how heavy the weight of the world may seem, don’t run to your cave.  It might seem like a comfortable place, but it won’t last.  It can’t provide for you over the long haul … its protection and cover only last a short while.  God wants us to run to Him, and for us to allow him to be our cover and protection always.  Retreating may seem to be the safe thing to do, but the things we’re running from will ultimately find us there too.  When we run to the Lord, His cover and safety is lasting.  The things that trouble or irk us can’t survive.  God will solve all and provide peace, because, “You are good to me.”

Let’s ask the Lord to reveal to us this week the caves we’re running to and hiding in … and let’s ask Him to remind us that only His care and fortification is lasting.  Think about committing some or all of Psalm 142 to memory so that you’ll forever be able to draw comfort from God’s word.

Either way, run away from the cave and to the source of REAL safety!

Secure in Christ,

MR