The psalmist cried, "Lead me to the rock that is higher than I." Psalm 61:2 (NIV)
ROCK formations have always fascinated me. As a child I gazed in awe at a formation known as Pioneer Rocks, where massive boulders lay heaped along the highway as though cast aside by the hand of a passing giant untold eons ago.
At home, high on the slopes of our cow pasture, a large stone outcrop made a great spot to sit. With a gnarled apple tree spreading its branches protectively overhead and a tall sycamore standing guard below, that rock provided me with a quiet retreat for daydreaming.
Thinking now of my childhood musings, I believe that I understand the psalmist. Longing for a place to be safe, he used the image of a rock - one high enough to shelter him during a storm or to conceal him as he hid from an enemy.
When my parents died, I sought my childhood retreat. There I experienced my grief and reaffirmed my belief in the resurrection of Jesus. Later, when my doctor told me I had cancer, I felt shock but not despair, for once again I found refuge in the Rock "that is higher than I." I am thankful that whatever my needs, I can cling to God, my Rock, knowing that God will always offer me refuge.
