Hiding in the Cleft of the Rock!
I’m sitting on the back porch up on Rocky Top on a hot, humid August day. School is back in session. Vacations are just a memory now. My Day Planner (yes, I’m old school) is covered up in blue and black ink. Basically, I’m overwhelmed and I have just been back from vacation for two weeks.
Between cheering on the USA Olympians, looking at my “to-do-List”, listening to the flooding reports in a state that I love, and watching the political wrangling on TV, life just seems fragile and complicated.
How do I navigate all this? My mind quickly returned to one day on our vacation while we were out exploring. Preacher and I were out in the middle of nowhere. A huge storm began to roll in. There was no way we would be able to make it to a man-made shelter before the storm hit. We saw huge rocks in the distance and began to run toward them while the rain began pelting us. As we approached the rocks, there was a “cleft” in the rocks. We sat down on dry ground in that cleft and watched as the storm rolled thru. We were in awe that the Lord had provided such a beautiful place for us to take refuge. We knew we couldn’t let this precious moment go to waste. So as we sat in the cleft of that rock, being sheltered by the storm, we did 3 things which have taken us through every imaginal storm in life in the last 36 years of our marriage.
- We remembered His faithfulness!
Know therefore that the Lord your God is God. He is the faithful God, keeping his covenant love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. Deuteronomy 7:9
Talk with your family, your husband or just a friend about the times in your past that you have seen God’s hand in your life or times when you have felt His presence or heard His word.
- We practiced thankfulness.
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; his love endures forever. Psalm 107:1
Spend time verbalizing out loud answered prayers, people, things, or circumstances you are thankful for. His gifts are all around. Thank Him for them!
- We prayed!
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. James 5:16
Share with someone what you struggle with and ask them to pray for you. Stand in His righteousness knowing that He hears you when you pray. Prayer is the most effective tool we have in life. Yet, I do believe it is the most under-utilized and under estimated tool we have available to us as believers. We must realize that we are in a battle. There are battles raging all around us. Some are in a battle for their marriage, some for their children, some for their churches and some for their very lives. We must fight this battle with His weapon of warfare: PRAYER!
As I finish writing this, it is thundering in the distance. Another storm is approaching. This time I’m not on a beautiful beach hiding in the cleft of a rock as the storm approaches. I’m back home on Rocky Top. There will always be another storm because that is just life. But I’m so thankful that My God is the ROCK in which I can stand on and He hides me and protects me. I am confident in MY ROCK!!!
“The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliver; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the strength of my salvation, my stronghold. I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies. “ Psalm 18:2-3
