Base

(Originally posted 10/28/2008)

You think you've found the perfect spot. And while you're there, your heart starts racing, your breath quickens and your eyes bug out, straining to see in the dark. Then you hear the words.

"...8...9...10. Ready or not, here I come!"

But you've found the perfect spot to hide; no need to worry. After all, no one would EVER think to look inside your closet (or under your covers, or behind the bathtub curtain, or...). You're safe.

But then they open the door (or pull back the covers or tear open the curtain). And that's when it begins. The race back to base.

Anyone who's played hide 'n' seek knows the value of base. It's a place of security, assurance, safety.

I was reading Ecclesiastes this morning. (how's that for a transition?) And 35 times in that book, Solomon uses the word "meaningless." According to Solomon, everything is meaningless. In other words, it doesn't matter where we hide.

And then, in the middle of his rant about how meaningless everything is, he writes, "...everything God does will endure forever..." (Ecc. 3:14).

I think what Solomon was saying is that God is base. And without that base, there is no security. There is no assurance. There is no safety. There is no point.

If God is not my base, I end up living every day with my heart pounding out of fear, my breath shortened by anxiety and my eyes bugging out, straining to see any hint of light in a dark world.

But I'm thankful, because I have been found. Christ has opened the door, pulled back the covers and torn open the curtain. And although he's had to chase me around corners and down halls sometimes, he's delivered me back to base. And I've discovered security, assurance, safety, and a point. And the point isn't me.

It's God.