“Knowing where to Hide” is the key factor to living a christ-centered life.

Job, a man found in the scriptures, whose piety and devotion towards God was far greater than any of the people living during his time. He would have lived around the time of the patriarchs; either Abraham, Jacob, Joseph or Moses. And God saw something so unique about Job and his devotion towards him that God called him an upright man.

Woah! That’s a valid certification of man’s character.

God certified Job saying;

Job is

• Blameless
• Upright
• Fears God
• Turns away from Evil

I wish we all could get such a certification from God.

Now, we know what happened to Job later; He lost his property, servants, and children and had painful sores from the crown of his head to the sole of his feet.

This pain that job faced came in two phases: first, property, servants, and children were killed and destroyed; second, he was inflicted with painful sores.

After the first phase of troubles: Job tore his robe, shaved his head, fell to the ground and worshiped. And said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return” The Lord gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. (Job 1:20-21)

If you read those verses over and over again. You will notice something remarkable about those statements.

A man who lost property, his livestock which was an important wealth of measure in those time, servants were killed and children, his own progeny dead, says those words.

This situation isn’t a hypothetical one. It’s not a tale or a myth. It’s real. The pain, the suffering is all real.

But why did he say those words?

If I were in Job’s position, I would have loaded my donkey went the spot where the livestock was stolen; ordered my men to chase those people down and get all that I lost. And visit the spot where the children died, mourn for them, bring them back and bury them. I would have done all of this. This would have been my immediate action. But Job didn’t seem to do any of that. The moment he heard what happened, he stays where he his and praises the name of the LORD.

Job did something that proved he is upright, blameless, fears God and turns away from evil.

When Job faced pain this is what he did.

As I read those passages I realized, Job knew where to hide when troubles came. And because he knew where to hide himself, he praised the name of the LORD in spite of reacting to this painful moment.

Here’s where the truth is,

Job 1:20;
Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped.

The key word in that verse is: worshiped

Job’s reaction to this painful moment was worship. Job worshiped God in that painful moment. Job had lost property, servants, and children but he worshiped. Worship was Job’s hiding place. Job knew where to hide. He hid in worship, he hid himself in the presence of the LORD. As he hid in worship he knew that this was the Lord’s doing and said, “The Lord gave and Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Let’s be honest. If you and I face such situation what will our response be; will we blame God and people around us for all things that went wrong?

How do we react when anxiety strikes? How do we react when we face pressure to perform? How do we react when problems come? How do we react when we face challenges?

How do we combat them?

In our Christian life, we face many battles. Many spiritual warfares. Sometimes it’s too overwhelming to stand strong. It’s easy to fall. It’s easy to loose our temper. It’s easy to shout at someone when things don’t go the way we expect. In a small moment, we speak words that show anger and hurt others. We speak words that shouldn’t be spoken. We dishonor parents, family, and friends. We dishonor relationships.

There’s something important to understand: The anxiety we face in life is an arrow from the enemy. Unwanted pressure or untimely pressure is an arrow from the enemy. People gossiping and talking bad about us are arrows that are induced by the enemy. Problems and challenges are arrows from the enemy. And when such situations come we have to hide in worship instead of reacting to all that has gone wrong.

But often times in our stand against the arrows of the enemy; we begin to shoot back arrows and we fail.

When people talk bad about us…we will find who they are and give an answer for all they spoke. When somebody causes trouble we make sure they get twice of what they did to us.

But that’s not what we are supposed to do. Rather we should hide in worship when people gossip. We should hide in worship when anxiety strikes. We should hide in worship when challenges come. We should hide in worship when pressure builds up. We have to develop the habit of hiding in worship and in the presence of the LORD when anything goes wrong.

Remember those are arrows. When they fly towards you instead of dodging; hide in worship. Hide in the presence of the LORD.

What does hiding in worship mean?

Hiding in worship means to set your mind in worshipping and praising God for all that he has done in the past and now continue to seek his protection and strength as you face this challenge. When you do that, God will give you the strength to overcome and also protect you from any harm.

The Psalmist realized this and writes.

Psalm 91:1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
Psaln 91:7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.

Psalm 32:7 You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.

Job knew where to hide when arrows flew towards him. David knew where to hide when arrows flew towards him. Even today when arrows fly towards you, learn to hide in the presence of the LORD.

When you learn to hide you will live a christ-centered life.