Fresh Start Devotionals

Enemies I liked Church fellowships when I was a boy. After the meal, the kids always ran outside to play in the backyard of the church. It adjoined cotton fields to the south and east. We waited until it was pitch dark, then we started playing “hide and go seek.” The cotton fields were “out of bounds,” but there were plenty of bushes and alcoves to hide in. You remember the game, don’t you. The person who is “it” hid their eyes then counted to 100 while everyone else finds hiding places. If “it” finds and touches you, you lost and became “it.” However, “it” could not “get you” if you ran to “the safe place.” I remember the sheer terror when “it” walked past my hiding place. I never liked someone pursuing me. It was a creeping feeling. I’d hold my breath and try not to make a single peep. “It” wanted nothing more than to get me … I knew it and did everything I could to keep from getting “got.” There are people in real life who think they are “it” and are out “to get you!” They don’t like you, and will do you harm if they get the chance. It may be a jealous co-worker, a hostile ex-spouse or a feuding family member. Where is God when your enemies pursue you? Does He care? Yes! He is your “safe place.” Moses experienced God’s protection. God said: “When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.” (Exodus 33:22) Call on God and let Him “hide your soul in the cleft of the rock.” Jim L. Wilson, Fresh Start Devotionals (Fresno, CA: Willow City Press, 2009).