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In my childhood, my mother told me a story about one of her little friends. This girl would take an egg, some sugar, and one of those old-fashioned rotary beaters from the kitchen. Wanting to hide her actions, she would surreptitiously sneak up to the attic to whip up a tasty treat for herself. It seemed like an odd snack, so I asked my cousin about it. She affirmed that, yes, our grandmother would also whip together an egg and sugar to add to their morning cocoa.
It also seemed odd to me that the girl used the attic as a hiding place. I only knew of attics so cluttered with dusty junk that a person couldn't move about easily. It didn't seem like a place to carry out kitchen procedures. Later, I found out that attics in the 1920's in my mother's neighbourhood were strung with clotheslines to dry sheets and other clothing in the winter. The basement was merely where coal was stored. And the attic was probably the most private place in the house, far from the kitchen. No one went there, except to hang out and collect laundry. So it was a good place for the little girl to conduct her secret deed. I wonder if she was ever found out.
The classic story of someone hiding in the Bible is the story of Adam and Eve. We know that as they ate of the fruit in the garden, “their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.” (Genesis 3:7 NLT) They hid their bodies. Not only that, but their easy relationship with the Lord took a sudden turn, and as they heard Him “walking about in the garden... they hid from the Lord God among the trees.” (Genesis 3:8b NLT) That is, they tried to hide from the Lord. “Then the Lord God called to the man, 'Where are you?'” (Genesis 3:9) They were found out. God knew where they were. They couldn't hide from Him. God is omniscient and omnipresent.
Knowing that God sees everything we do, and knows everything about us, we realize we can't ever hide from Him. You [God] know everything I do.” (Psalm 139:3 NLT)
“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.” (Hebrews 4:13 NLT)
We can, however, hide in God.
Psalm 32:7 “You are my hiding place; You protect me from trouble.” (NLT)
This verse reminds me of the book The Hiding Place, by Corrie ten Boom. In her family home in Haarlem, Holland, a secret room was built behind a false wall, large enough to hide several Jews in WW2. Corrie and her sister, hiding from the Nazis during one raid, were eventually discovered and sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp in Germany. There they found that the Lord was their true hiding place.
When we have trouble, where do we go? I hope we would run to the Lord, and hide beneath the shadow of His wings (Psalm 57:1), “as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings” (Matthew 23:37 NLT) There is no safer place to hide.
Alice Burnett
Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
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