BBD 04.08.03 Hiding From God
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
country's flag on the map and leave a message. You can find it on the front
page at http://www.theburningbush.org
The Burning Bush Devotional
(Over 8,000 subscribers in 75 countries)
04.08.03
Hiding From God
"O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my
rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and
my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word
on my tongue, but behold, O LORD, You know it altogether. You have hedged
me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too
wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it. Where can I go from Your
Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven,
You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take
the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even
there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. If I say,
'Surely the darkness shall fall on me,' even the night shall be light about
me; indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as
the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You." - Psalm
139:1-12.
A new fashion trend has struck Hong Kong in the wake of the fear of SARS
(The pneumonia-like disease that has spread from China to several
countries.). Wearing surgical masks will hopefully prevent the spread of
the disease and most of the seven million people in Hong Kong are now
wearing them. Masks are now being marketed with bold colors and designs
because the fashion conscious want their masks to match their total
ensemble. There are even masks with cartoon characters, psychedelic colors
and polka dots but the plain white or black off-the-shelf mask is still
available. There is also concern about which masks are able to offer the
greatest protection from SARS. Jane Chan, a marketing executive wears an
plain off-the-shelf mask but said, "I like wearing masks because they can
hide my pimples and make me look mysterious. I think people in Hong Kong
are looking better now that they're wearing masks."
Some people are not trying to hide from a disease but from God. They think
that they are smarter than God because they seem to have avoided any major
consequences. God apparently doesn't know where they are - at least that
may be what they think in the deepest part of their heart. It could be that
one day they will be left behind by God in a very literal sense.
We were taking a group of children skating one evening and we thought we had
every one loaded into the van and other vehicles. However, we were
surprised when the parents of one child arrived at the skating rink and
asked where their son was. We looked everywhere but he wasn't there! We
called and asked some people to go and look for the boy at the church. He
was still there! What had happened? We had seen him there with the other
children and all of the children appeared to be inside the vehicles ready to
go before we left the church. I had gone back into the church looking
around and calling out that we were leaving. What could have happened? The
parents shared that their son had been making a game of hiding whenever they
were ready to go somewhere. Apparently he had done so again at church but
this time he was left behind and missed out on a fun evening of skating.
Make no mistake; God knows exactly where you are. Even if you are doing
your very best to hide, God still knows where you are and the only thing
your hiding will accomplish will be to harm yourself. God makes it clear in
Psalm 139 that distance cannot hide us, darkness cannot hide us, and even
death cannot hide us from Him. Please don't miss out on all the great and
wonderful things that God has in store for you in this life and beyond by
trying to hide from Him.
Copyright © 2003. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the devotionals
on a non-profit basis with source credited.
There is now a webpage available at associate.com where the devotionals are
archived associate.com/groups/burningbushdevo. At the end of March
the archive at injesus.com will no longer be accessible. However, there is a
complete archive at the Burning Bush website and the address for the archive
is http://www.theburningbush.org/33.html.
You may subscribe to the pure text group by sending a blank email to
burningbushdevo-subscribe@welovegod.org and you can unsubscribe by sending a
blank email to burningbushdevo-unsubscribe@welovegod.org
You may subscribe to the html text group by sending a blank email to
burningbushhtml-subscribe@welovegod.org and you may unsubscribe by sending a
blank email to burningbushhtml-unsubscribe@welovegod.org
Subscribe to the Burning Bush Prayer Group. Send and receive prayer requests
to over 300 members. Send a blank email to: BBPG-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Subscribe to the Burning Bush Inspirational Group. Send and receive
inspirational material to over 100 members. Send a blank email to:
bbinspire-subscribe@welovegod.org
Subscribe to the Burning Bush Restoration and Recovery Group for those with
addictions or recovering from addictions. Receive devotionals and
inspirational material directed toward those with addictions. Send and
receive prayer requests. Over 200 members. Send a blank email to:
tbbrr-subscribe@yahoogroups.com