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One Word

You know I've been studying and working/walking through Psalm 119 taking a section a day. Today I landed in verse 114. It says this: You are my hiding place and my shield; I wait for Your word. I tried to finish my daily reading, but thoughts were distracting me.There are so many nuggets to take away from this one verse.

My first thoughts were of hiding in Him, of staying nestled up close to Him during the storms of life and the struggles that can come along with caregiving. I thought about sometimes how He just holds my heart in His until mine syncs to the rhythm of His. I thought about those midnight hours when Chris has been sick or uncomfortable and I didn't know what to do - and He was the calm in the storm. I knew Him as my hiding place long before caregiving, but caregiving brought it home to me. There is a place in Him I can crawl up and let it all go. There's no condemnation, no rebuke, no misunderstanding - just His gentle touch.

Then I thought about how He is a shield to those of us who believe. David said in another psalm: You O Lord, are a shield about me, the glory and the One who lifts my head. (Psalm 3:3) Hindsight is 20/20 and there are so many instances where we can look back and see how He was a shield around us, how He covered us and kept us from even knowing what was going on the outer side of that shield.

I think for me, the shield is a quick, temporary protection from some sort of attack. Life throws darts at all of us, it just seems to caregivers that the darts are bigger. lol. I started to say when life gets hectic, but for caregivers, it just is hectic day in and day out. Emotions stay raw. Hurt is always on the surface and deeply rooted in us as well. There are daily grief and sorrow. Our life-related struggles are greatly multiplied and many days all we can do is gather the strength to make it through. That's what the hiding place is for - to crawl up in Him and live. The shield, to me is for those extras - the friends who abandon, the client who didn't pay on time, the sudden fever our loved one spikes or news of the death of a loved one. We live in the hiding place - and duck behind the shield when events get sticky. He does both well!

But then, that last little phrase really got to me. I wait for Your word.That helps us know what we should be doing while ducking behind His shield or resting in Him as our hiding place. We are waiting for that word from Him. It only takes one. A simple, peace be still calmed a raging storm one time, remember? A simple, take up your bed and walk gave the crippled man a new life. When we are hiding in Him, it doesn't take that much, really. Just I am with you calms, comforts and reassures us of His ever-abiding presence. You are mine reminds us that we are indeed His child and He cares, He knows, He sees, and He hears. He'll never leave us. It just takes one word to save our hearts, relieve our fears and change our day.

Today, I am going to listen for that one word. I'll crawl up in His hiding place, the one I know so well. I will listen for His gentle voice to speak to me - to calm the raging storm in my soul. I purpose to get to know that hiding place a little better, and stop trying to do it all on my own. I will hide in Him, listen for Him and let Him comfort me today. Will you join me in listening for that one word?

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