The Enticement of Escape

            I think most people wonder what it would be like to be able to fly.  I'm not talking about waiting in check-in and security lines for hours at the airport before boarding a large plane along with dozens of other passengers.  Instead, we wish we could just take off like a bird on a whim without relying on any mechanical device.  As a kid, I remember having several dreams where, like Peter Pan, I could simply choose to leave the ground and become airborne whenever and wherever I pleased.  It's no wonder that the power of flight is such a common fantasy, for it appeals to our desires for freedom, adventure, power, and instant gratification.  Beyond all of that, it entices and enchants us with a promise of escape. 

David certainly longed for that escape at times.  In Psalm 55:4-8, he describes this desire with which we are all too familiar, "My heart is in anguish within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me.  Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror has overwhelmed me.  I said, 'Oh, that I had wings like a dove!  I would fly away and be at rest.  Behold, I would wander far away, I would lodge in the wilderness.  Selah.  I would hasten to my place of refuge from the stormy wind and tempest.'"  David went through many stormy seasons where his life was overshadowed by the thunderheads of death threats and betrayal.  I don't usually think of David as one who would wish to flee from it all.  After all, he took on the Philistine giant as a young boy with little help from any of the grown men who were supposed to be the valiant warriors.  He trusted God.  Still, through the Psalms, he invites us in to see his heart and mind.  There, we see that he was like us.  He felt weighed down and overwhelmed sometimes by his bleak circumstances, and he entertained the thought of just running away from it all.  Running is so much easier than persevering.

            During some of my darker days, the allure of escape has tugged at my heart.  If only I could fly away to a place where no one knew my name, leaving all of my responsibilities, struggles, pressures, wounds, and frustrations as a distant memory.  Better yet, I could find myself an isolated and unknown mountaintop and live out my days as a hidden hermit alone with God.  This siren song tells us that we could find rest, healing, and refuge if we could just leave, if we could just start over, or if we could just escape whatever we're facing.  Some people listen to the song, leaving crushed hearts in their wake, only to find that trouble tends to follow close behind.  There is no true escape from the heartache and weight of this life in running.  Sin resides everywhere on this earth where people are.  Even on the isolated mountain, one sinner remains: you.

David heard the song, but he knew that no true escape could be found in running.  He chose to act on a better way.  He looked to his Maker for the rest, healing, refuge, and hope he so desperately craved.  In Psalm 55:1, David pleads, "Give ear to my prayer, O God; and do not hide Yourself from my supplication."  In verse 22, he encourages us, "Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken." 

God doesn't make life easy for us.  He doesn't always remove us from unpleasant, unjust, or even cruel circumstances the way that we wish He would.  However, He does take care of us and sustain us through it all when we look to Him.  He is available to us, and He listens.  He is our escape.  He lightens our load and gives rest to our souls so that we can keep going.  He is the pure and perfect companion we seek.  He is the only one who is sinless, and He graciously offers His righteousness to us through Jesus.  In turn, we are strengthened to see our circumstances through the lenses of grace and hope, and we are enabled to extend that grace and hope to others. 

Jesus's words in Matthew 11:28-30 echo David's teaching that He alone is our escape: "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light."  Similarly, Isaiah teaches, "Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary" (40:31).  There is hope.  There is a way to live life without crumbling under all that is wrong with this world.  It is only found in Jesus.  If you are going to run anywhere, run to Him.