Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Why Are You Hiding?

We have a strange phenomenon going on in our house. It looks something like this:


Yes...this is Pugsley hiding in our curtain. I am so perplexed by this dog's behavior. It has become his daily routine, about 60 times a day, to move from curtain to curtain and hide his little self under them. You can't help but wonder, why is he doing this? My personal opinion is that his love language is physical touch and he doesn't get enough, if any of it, in this home so, he opts for the touch of a curtain. And what is even funnier is that he actually sits there and turns his head to listen to us talk with his head in the curtain. Strange. Very strange.

I think it would be fair to say that in this life, we wish a lot of times we could be the Pug behind a curtain. Oh, we could just sit there and live life veiled. When things are said or need to be said we could just move our heads obliviously. "Hmm..what did you say?" "Yeah...whatever. I can't really see you or hear you because I am hidden." In moments of despair we could feel the protection of emptiness. When tired of life we could just sit beneath the fabric of nothingness Alone. Covered. Ignorant. Need a break. Just crawl up under and sit a while. With all the struggles in this life, why not? Seems quite sensible to me.

The problem is, hiding in a curtain for protection from life avails nothing. When you remove the covering, reality still hits you square in the face. So as much as I think hiding will bring some solace, it won't. It will only come when I recognize that the Lord is my hiding place. 

It is hard to grasp that concept because God is not tangible. And when pain and struggle are so tangible, it is easier to find a tangible covering. For Pugsley, it is a curtain. For you and me it could be a whole slough of things - a bed in the middle of the day, a bar in the middle of the night, immoral behavior, tv - yes I said tv, loud ungodly music. You get the picture. Tangible pain. Tangible hiding place. Anything that covers the issue at hand.

To make God our hiding place in the midst of life's despairing moments means bringing the tangible to the intangible, yet faithful One, who can lift your head, speak to your heart and say, "I am with you."  If we will trust God enough with whatever makes us want to hide and place ourselves under the shelter of His wings, we will come out from beneath His covering changed. It is a miracle everytime. God can change the heart of man. I don't know how but I know because it's happened to me time and time again . 

"You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance."
Psalm 32:7 


4 comments:

Jeanie said...

book material...I get the Pug...i am in hiding.. :/

Jeanie said...

Just so very well said...that is what I meant by book material! Good job, Robin! Great writing!

Dawn said...

Your description of Pugsly behind the curtains was so funny. I also enjoyed your comparison of our hiding to his. Have you ever asked God to show you the songs He is singing over you?!

Elise said...

Mom, You made me cry with this! I love this!