Running Away

Running Away

I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!

Psalm 139:7

My sister and I made a pact. We would run away from home together. Our parents weren’t that bad, we agreed, but we’d both had enough of our older brother. It was time to go. Here’s what we agreed on. The first one to wake in the middle of the night promised to wake the other. Together we would steal out of the house and make our way to a nearby park where we would live. The only hard part would be deciding which picnic table to camp under.

Ever felt like running away—even as an adult? I have. Maybe that’s why I love Margaret Wise Brown’s classic children’s story, The Runaway Bunny. Perhaps you remember it. The book is about a mother rabbit and a baby bunny who has determined to run away from home. The bunny tells his mother that if she runs after him, he will become a fish and swim away from her. But his mother assures him that she will become a fisherman who will fish for him. Delightful images parade across the pages as the bunny thinks of ingenious means of escape while the mother even more ingeniously assures him of her love and determination not to let him go. In the end, the bunny gives up, deciding to stay home and be his mother’s baby bunny.

A friend of mine suggested that Psalm 139 reminds her of The Runaway Bunny. As soon as she said this, I understood why it had always been one of my favorite psalms. Listen to how the psalmist describes his experience of God:

I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. (7-10)

Truly God is our great pursuer and protector. If you are tempted to run away from circumstances that are troubling you, read Psalm 139. Talk to God about everything that’s difficult in your life, asking him to reveal his persistent, fatherly love.

Lord, “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book” (Psalm 139:16). Help me on this day to experience your love and protection.