Phyllis Nissila

HIS HIDING PLACE

His head was ringing from the explosion, but he could still hear the enemy–five, maybe six of them scrambling up the rocky slope behind him. He knew there were some shallow caves ahead but hoped for a better hiding place. No luck. He ducked in the nearest rock hollow and wedged into an inside niche that obscured him from entry view.  

“Lord, send help!” he prayed.

He heard the shouts and shots of the enemy as they searched each cave, one by one, moving toward his. So far, no help in sight, and he was a distance from his unit.

“Well, maybe it’s my time after all,” he thought.

As he awaited his fate he kept his eyes glued to the entrance which he could see through a crack. A shard of noonday sun suddenly highlighted an unusual little scene. A spider was spinning a web at warp speed, it seemed to the soldier. Phenomenal, he thought, momentarily distracted  by the sight. He’d never seen such a thing! Maybe they had different kinds of spiders here. In record web-time, he watched the spider weave its gauzy veil to a sizeable chunk soon covering an upper corner of the entryway.  

He was shocked back to fear by the crunch of enemy boots now outside his cave. He held his breath. Steeled himself. Then he heard one soldier say, in a language he understood, “He can’t be in here. He would have broken this spider web.”

He heard them move on…

OUR HIDING PLACE

It’s a battle ground on this rocky plain, too. Our real enemy, who “leads” “principalities and powers” (Ephesians 6:12), pursues us on a spiritual search and destroy mission. But God, Who knows what we need and how to customize a “hiding place” for us, too, like He customized the soldier’s (with the help of a little friend), hears our prayers. And although the devil is in the details of destruction and he is clever, God is in the details of deliverance and He is smarter.

May I invite you to God’s “hiding place today?” (Coordinates: Psalm 32:7)

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Photos from public domain