February 14

You are my hiding place. You protect me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah — Ps 32:7 BSB

God is a hiding place from all kinds of dangers. He is a hiding place from sin. His mercy is an eternal refuge. “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.”

God is a refuge from trouble. “God had one Son without sin, but He has none without sorrow.” Where can we go to escape sorrow? There is no place on earth where it never enters, no paradise free from grief. But there is a hiding place where the sorrowing can go and find comfort and peace. “In the world, you will have troubles; in Me, you will have peace,” said Jesus. Sorrow may not be removed, but divine peace can enter the heart and calm it. In that peace, sorrow is seen as God’s messenger of love, sent with a purpose, and accepted with faith. In the midst of pain and loss, there is no fear, for the sufferer has found a hiding place in God.

God is also a hiding place from danger. In the wildest terrors, we can run to Him, and find safety in His arms. A Christian sailor once said that even if his ship went down into the sea, he would be safe, for God holds the waters in His hand, and he would only be falling into his Father’s hand.