No escape plan for me

Have you ever hidden so well in that old time game of hide & seek so that you were absolutely unable to be discovered? That which is hidden is not visible - it isn't easily perceived, or has little to no evidence it even exists. If we are playing a kid's game, being hidden in such a manner ensures that you will be declared the 'winner' of the game. In real life, always hiding so well isn't going to ensure you 'win', is it? It just means you remain undiscovered! When our hiding place is in God himself, it isn't that we aren't able to be discovered - it is just that his barrier of protection over our lives is so impenetrable that nothing can get at us! 

You are my hiding place and my battle-covering. I put my hope in Your Word. (Psalm 119:114)

When times challenge us a little, do we turn to God as our covering, or do we simple hunker down a little in some 'place' we have designed for ourselves as a means of escape? I daresay there are a lot of people who merely go through life with an 'escape plan' always at the ready. They don't have any real 'battle-covering' they can rely upon - but merely wing it. When times get harder than they would like them to be, they resort to whatever escape plan they have concocted. Now, this may work for a while, but if you are always 'escaping' rather than facing challenges head-on, the battles don't go away - they just are hidden from our view for a while.

When God is our covering - our battle isn't 'blocked from our view' - it is faced head-on. We can rest in the assurance his covering is sufficient to take us right through that battle, no holds barred. It is one thing to be in the battle and fighting well, but quite another to have been in the battle so long that you become weary and worn by the constant demands of the warfare, though. That's why God is both our 'battle-covering' (protection in the fight) and our hiding place (protection so we can rest a while). Escaping into his restful hiding place isn't escaping the battle - it is regenerating our abilities to continue the fight.

We need both, don't we? We cannot always go through life with an 'escape plan', but we can go through it with the knowledge God will be both our shield and defender when the battle rages hot and heavy, and a source of comfort and healing when we just need a moment or two to regroup. We aren't escaping the battle whenever we retreat because he meets us right there in the midst of the battle and just provides a shelter for us right there. One who retreats into a full escape mode isn't sticking around for the battle - they are working to be clearly out of it entirely. One who retreats into the hidden shelter of his wings is merely allowing him to hold them steady in the midst of it. Just sayin!