Take refuge when you need it.
With the best will, you will miss sometime; and don’t believe that a miss is as good as a mile. There is always someone waiting, maybe too many in waiting for your miss in order to justify their false assumptions about you. There is going to be someone who will not say that you almost got it right. Rather your critic will say you always did it wrong, even though you missed the mark just this once.
If you hold a record of getting things right, then prepare for that moment when you really need refuge. Of course, God is always there – ready willing and able to deliver. But for some reason, we humans think we can manage and, especially when we hold the record of getting things right, we keep on trying, expecting the usual success. And guess what? The inevitable happens. You are going to miss if only to know the blessedness of hiding in God when the haters are out to get you.
So, there is David hiding in the cave because he had to flee from Saul. But he was smart in hiding because his cave was really God. Hear him, 1 “In you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow if your wings I will take refuge, until the destroying storms pass by.”
God will guard you during the storm even when your prayer goes unanswered that 3 “he will put to shame those who trample on me.”
They may not get trampled on so soon, maybe not at all, depending on what trampling you have in mind. Vengeance is God’s business, not yours, if you want to hide in God. You might well be dealing with humans who make you think 4 “I lie down among lions that greedily devour human prey; their teeth are spears and arrows, their tongues sharp sword.”
Don’t stress yourself out. Wait for the Lord even while you hide in your God cave. Because guess what. They may not be put to the kind of shame you prayed for, but they just might outdo or undo themselves. Read this: 6 “They set a net for my steps; my soul was bowed down. They dug a pit in my path, but they have fallen into it themselves,”
See why you shouldn’t plan to harm anybody? The pain you plan to inflict on someone else might just come back to haunt you with such hurt that you can’t endure it. Try not to harm- in deed, or word, or thought. Just hide in God when you can bear what’s being thrust in you. Your spirit will outlast the trouble because time flies.
And even when the clock seems to tick too slowly, God will take care of you while you wait in hiding. God is good all the time.