Meadow Places

A few of my close friends have heard me talk about my meadow place.
Only a few trusted friends know the times I have wanted to go there.
That small handful of friends knows the things that would drive me there.

Where is my meadow place?
How often do I go?

We have all had them.
Days that begin wrong.
Mornings that are just a bit off.

We have all experienced them.
Days that start out right and then just go downhill.
Days that seem like the proverbial enchanted forest with the thorns and the brambles.

Sometimes it is not a major thing that causes the problem.
Sometimes it is many little things that build and build.
The precarious block tower of events that will soon come crashing down.

Jenga days.

Jenga, the well known tower building game.
Fifty-four blocks stacked adjacent to each other on their long side.
Fifty-four blocks stacked perpendicular to the level beneath.

The tower that begs to be dismantled one block at a time.
Carefully remove one block from the bottom and stack that block on top.
The tower becomes unstable as it grows taller.

Suddenly, without warning, the tower falls.
It falls into pieces below.
It lies in a heap ready to be rebuilt.

Such is life on a meadow day.

We need a meadow to run to before the tower falls.
We need a meadow to run to, to sit in the middle of, and cry if we must.
We need a meadow to run to, to stand in the center of, and scream until the storm passes.

A meadow place.
An oasis in the middle of a desert.
A place of rest, tranquility, and stillness.

I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest, I would flee far away and stay in the desert; I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and the storm. (Psalm 55:6-8)

It is comforting to know that David felt the need to run to a meadow place.
God gives us glimpses of people just like us in His Word.
We see ourselves in their frailty; so we never feel so alone.

David feared for his life as King Saul was chasing him.
In the midst of the pursuit, David ran to his meadow place, his oasis in the desert.
God gives us a snapshot of this place.

After Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the Desert of En Gedi.” So Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and set out to look for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats. (1 Samuel 24:1,2)

Can you picture the place?
Lush green in the middle of the desert.
En Gedi has two spring-fed streams with flowing water year round.

David’s meadow place.
David’s place of rest, tranquility, and stillness.
A place to run to until the storm passed.

In the time of stillness, David heard the Whisper of God.
In the tranquility, David got his bearing once again.
In the place of rest, David was renewed.

Oh, that I had the wings of a dove,
I would fly away and be at rest, I would flee far away and stay in the desert.

Except you cannot stay in meadow places here.
They provide a respite.
They provide solace, for a time.

For a brief, wonderful, rejuvenating bit of time.

But we cannot stay there.
Much like we cannot stay on the mountaintop.
Life is lived in the valley.

I have never gone to an actual meadow place, though a few places have called to me.
So how did I find my meadow place, my oasis, in the midst of life in the valley?
I found it in the stillness of God.

God is my meadow place.
God is my oasis.

I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and the storm, so says David.
I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and the storm, so say I.

My place of shelter, far from the tempest and the storm, is in the arms of the Lord.
There is no better place to be.
There is no better place to run to.

One day, valley living will be no more.
All the days that begin wrong and all the mornings that are a bit off will be no more.
If we are in Christ, we will live in our Heavenly Oasis forever.

Then, mountaintop living is all there will be.
Then, there will be no need to flee, to run, to cry, or to scream.
Then, there will be no more storms.

Can you imagine?
A meadow place for all eternity.
Our shelter is now our Home.