One Thing that Will Help You Stay Put When You Need To

Ever fantasize about jumping on a plane and just going somewhere? No place in particular, just anywhere besides where you are?

We could probably trace humanity’s desire to fly all the way back to the day Adam and Eve first noticed a bird in flight. “Wow, must be nice,” they probably thought to themselves, especially after the fall.

Throughout history, the desire to get airborne was so compelling that it eventually became reality. After lots of trial and error, it was the Wright brothers, a couple of boys from North Carolina, that finally gave us wings in 1903. Thanks to their ingenuity, we’ve been crisscrossing the skies ever since.

But have you noticed that flying away isn’t always the answer? Sometimes the thing to do is to resist the urge to fly and instead remain right where you are, trusting God to help you through an uncomfortable situation.

This is exactly the theme of Psalm 11. Apparently, David was in the midst of some sort of crisis and he had people in his ear trying to talk him into heading for the hills. Here is his reply:

“In the Lord I take refuge;
how can you say to my soul,
    ‘Flee like a bird to your mountain,‘”

-Psalm 11:1

How we respond in the midst of crisis is one of the most important things about us. For those of us who repeatedly give in to the urge to fly when things get hard, life becomes a series of premature endings and broken relationships. When we run into something difficult, we hear the voices saying “Just leave, get out of here!” and we obey.

Consequently, we forfeit golden  opportunities to develop in character and endurance. Instead of embracing  adversity as an essential part of growing stronger and deeper in grace, we plot our escape.

But how can we stay when everything in us wants to leave?

Notice what held David fast:

The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord‘s throne is in heaven... (v. 5)

When facing something difficult, David was anchored by the conviction that neither the badness of men nor the tyranny of circumstances had dis-lodged the LORD from His throne. Even when it seemed that everyone and everthing was coming unhinged, God remained large and in charge.

Author Paul David Tripp puts it this way:

“…David had come to understand this, that sitting on the throne of the Universe is One who is stunningly more beautiful than any ugly thing you are ever going to face in your life…You will only properly understand the ugly things that you face…when you look at those things through the lens of the stunning beauty of your Redeemer.”

Want to get away? Feeling the need to be transported elsewhere? I know a place…it’s called the throne of grace and it’s beautiful there.

It’s a new day with God. Run with it.