Where do you go to?

Where do you go

I was having a jocular exchange of texts the other day. It was all about being scared and hiding. Suddenly, as so often, the Lord asked me where I would run to. My answer was as instant as it was a surprise, even to me.  I said simply, “You, Lord, are my protection. From anything this world can throw at me.”

I remembered David when Saul was chasing him. I remembered Elijah’s flight from Jezebel and his earlier spell in the wilderness when ravens fed him. I remembered Paul in prison, being shipwrecked, and being bitten by the snake. I remembered Daniel in furnace and lions den.

I remember an old song by Peter Sarsted called “Where do you go to my lovely”. It was about a girl who lived the life of a princess but who had come from much more humble beginnings. He asked not just where she went ‘when you’re alone in the dark’, like the ‘back streets of Naples’, but what memories haunted her. He was saying that you can block those memories but you can never forget them, nor can you hide where you have come from. 

So it is with us today except that, through Holy Spirit, we now have grace to also remember where Jesus has taken us today. In fact, the psalmist put it rather better than I when he said, in Psalm 18:1-3  “I will love You, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.  I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies.”

It is so true. If we make Jesus our strength, our stronghold, and our high tower, He will give us the strength and grace to handle life His way rather than our way. 

Where do you go to when you’re alone and in the dark?  Do you need help with your baggage from the past? “Cast all your cares and worries upon Jesus because He cares for you” 1 Peter 5:7 Let Jesus take your load today. Take it all to the cross and leave it there and He will carry you through any test or trial. His grace is sufficient for me and for you.

But only if you let Him help you.