Working The Word (Walking Away From Addiction to the Sweet Arms of Jesus) My Hiding Place

By: Hanny Lynn Stearns

Fish N Loaves Ministries, Inc.

“Multiplying God’s Word Around The Globe”

 August 10, 2016

 My Hiding Place

Psalm 32:7

You are my hiding place;
You shall preserve me from trouble;
You shall surround me with songs of deliverance.

  

I recently heard a new revelation about these songs of deliverance. It was glorious. I would like to share it with you today. Our pastor is very much led by Holy Spirit in what he preaches. One day recently, he said that as we sing of the deliverance of the Lord, He is in those songs and working our deliverance even as we sing of it. Isn’t that glorious?! I was very excited to hear that – are you? Do you know that Jesus can deliver you even as you sing of His deliverance? Do you know that He inhabits (takes up residence in) your praises?

Today we look at hiding places. As an addict, people can look for lots of places to hide. They hide from stress, abuse, and a host of other worldly troubles. When we hide ourselves in Jesus, we can be preserved from trouble. That means every kind of trouble. When a person who has been addicted to something runs to Him, He will hide them from the trouble that addiction brings. It is true. I have seen Him do it for me. Lately I have seen the results of what it really means to hide oneself in the Lord. I am in a new season of victory in my life and I give Him all the praise and glory for that. That’s why I am excited to share it with you. Freely I have received – freely I give.

It's all about focus. What we think about, what we talk about, and how we act are all ways that reflect what will happen in our day to day activities. If we focus on the food for example and hide ourselves in it, we will remain ensnared by it. But when we run to Jesus and hide there; remain with Him and focus on Him, we can be free of that thing, whatever it may be.

There are a lot of things vying for our attention in this world that are not of God. We have a choice every moment of the day. Do we focus on the things of this world, or do we focus on Jesus and remain in Him – hidden away from the trouble that addictive behaviors can bring? The choice is ours. Remember when you were young. Maybe you liked to play hide and go seek. You were so excited to go find that special place to tuck yourself into where nobody could find you. Or maybe you liked to build a treehouse, or a fort in the woods. I did a lot of that as a young girl. Ok, a bit of a tomboy, but so what. I enjoyed it. It was a way of hiding from the troubles going on in my home.

When I was in the fort with my friends, I felt safe and secure. Or when I would climb a tall tree, which I really enjoyed doing – the higher up the better, I would feel like I didn’t have a care in the world as I gazed down at the earth below. I even used to like to climb up on top of our refrigerator at hose and just look down at everything. I liked being up there. It felt safe and peaceful. Having a place to go hide can be a very secure thing for anybody. But the hiding place must be right, or our efforts are in vain.

Stuffing our mouths with food is no place to hide. Drinking a bottomless bottle of booze is also a false “fort”. No matter where we have run to in the past to hide, we can run to the Savior right now and hide ourselves in Him. The picture I will use at the end of this is one of my favorites. It reminds me of Psalm 91 which is a good reflection of hiding in the Lord. In fact, we will use that Psalm and the picture to depict the perfect place to hide.

Here is another verse that I really like…

Psalm 73:25-26

Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.
My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

My friends, we may think we are “hiding out” when we are alone in our houses or cars or wherever as we cram down volumes of food, alcohol or drugs, but trouble is right there with us when we are doing that. The enemy is in the middle of all that. It is a wide open door for the enemy to steal, kill and destroy. It is no safe haven – I assure you. It’s a fort with paper thin walls that will not stand. But when we hide ourselves in the sweet arms of Jesus, trusting in Him to protect us and feed our longing souls, then the enemy cannot enter into our “forts.” The doors are barricaded shut against him. Like the big bad wolf, he may huff and puff, but he can’t get in. The walls will remain strong and intact. He will not succeed in blowing our forts down because we are dwelling in the secret place of the Most High.

May you be encouraged today to just go to Him. Cry if you have to. But rest in Him, trust Him to calm you and relieve and refresh you – and He will, I promise, because He promises. Praise His name forever!

Psalm 91

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.”

Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler   and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look, and see the reward of the wicked.

Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; for He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.

You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.”

This can be  you!