Holy Ground - Meyer

Moses went …deep into the wilderness…the angel of the Lord appeared to him as a blazing fire in the bush… Do not come any closer,” God told him. “Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground.” from Exodus 3:1-4

After I experienced a dry spell in my writing
—a winter where my ideas froze up.
this little selection got me to thinking about holy ground
in various aspects

Please indulge me and walk with me for a bit.
Just in case,
Let’s take off our shoes,
Just in case!

Moses went into the desert
– here in Canada, we are more familiar with winters,
so bear with me if I talk about winters instead of deserts.
Both can give us the same feeling
of isolation and barren landscapes.


There are winters of all kinds.
Winters of the soul,
Winters in our personal journeys or in health,
Winters in our family relationships
Winters in our writing.
and this kind of winter can come
even in July or August.

Sometimes, our winters seem longer than our summers.
Among the writers in The Word Guild,
many have experienced personal winters,
the stripping of the leaves,
the killing frost
the tearing up and cutting off of summer foliage
in whatever form those have taken.

The days grow shorter,
And we experience the long darkness
of the winter nights.
It’s hard to see or feel the support of those
Who are right next to us.

Hush!
God whispers,
“I am the God of the Winters
as well as the springs and summers.
Even in the winter,
bushes can burn and not be consumed.

Just as underneath the frozen and barren ground,
bulbs and roots hold life,
sap is stored to rise in the spring,
Even so,
My spirit is at work
in your winter,
in your night.
Rest in Me,
Trust in me
I am ready to bless.

Wiggle your toes,
feel the holy ground.
Let the coolness of the floor, or the stone
speak to you of the waiting,
the softness of the carpet or the grass,
of hope for the warmth that is to come.

For I, the Lord your God
Have seen your misery,
I want to meet you in the barren places.

As the arctic tundra,
yields flowers of delicate beauty
even so I will bring to flower
the purpose for your life
the answer for your present dilemma,
if you just acknowledge your need of me.

Stay where you are until I ask you to move,
but with your shoeless feet acknowledge my presence.
for you ARE standing on Holy Ground!


Ruth Meyer is the author of Not Easily Broken (Word Alive Press) and is working on the sequel Not Far From the Tree. She is a frequent contributor to REJOICE! Devotional Magazine. She speaks to many groups on various topics of her own or your choosing and blogs also on her website: http://www.ruthsmithmeyer.com/ Come visit her there.