Pocket Full of Sunshine

By Lane Palmer, Christian Post Guest Columnist Friday, July 25, 2008

So what songs get stuck in your head? You know, those tunes and jingles nicknamed 'earworms' that blare through the speakers in your skull? You mentally chase them around like a greased pig, but you just can't hold on long enough to chuck them into annoying tune hell where they belong.

For example - The Barney theme song?

Then there are the classics - like Chili's Baby Back Ribs jingle (I want my baby back baby back), Who Let the Dogs Out, We Will Rock You, Whoomp, There It Is - and - If you've ever been to Disneyland, and you unsuspectingly wander into small world territory, It's a Small World After All will NEVER leave your head.

But I think there is a new earworm candidate that is *burning* up the charts like a pocketful of sunshine. Well, in fact, it is "A Pocket Full of Sunshine"

See? The earworm is here – "I got a pocket, got a pocketful of sunshine, I got a love, and I know that it's all mine. Oh, oh oh oh."

But there's an interesting element to Natasha Bedingfield's popular tune that seems to connect with a ton of folks. Most of us have been yelled at - maybe not all by big bald office bosses, but we've had people in our lives who felt it necessary to SCREECH AT US LIKE THIS WHEN THEY AREN'T HAPPY!!!

Oh, and fighting parents? Yep and yep. Or maybe just enough frustration to make us want to jump into our childhood drawings into a sweet hip hop break dance party.

"Take me away, a secret place
A sweet escape, take me away
Take me away to better days
Take me away, a hiding place"

Did you know that God is actually called a 'hiding place'? It's from Psalm 32:7:

For you are my hiding place; you protect me from trouble. You surround me with songs of victory.

This is a chorus from a song written thousands of years ago by a man named David. He penned these words soon after he had made some of the biggest mistakes of his life. Not minor goof ups, but major mess ups in the form of adultery, murder, and deception. His guilt was so heavy that he described it as 'floodwaters' that threatened to drown him.

So he turned to God - and he found not only forgiveness – but also a shelter, a hiding place, and a strong tower.

What about you? Where are you searching to find your hiding place? Some look for it in busyness. Almost as if texting while surfing while listening will drown out the guilt and pain from the circumstances around you.

That might be a temporary shelter, but you know as well as I do that the voices of regret and an aching soul just patiently wait until you're lying on your bed without all the diversions.

Others look for a hiding place in a relationship, and while friendships bring amazing elements to our lives, they can't truly protect you the way the living and eternal God of the universe can.

In fact, God is called a "Rock" dozens of times in the Bible - and by comparison there is no other true hiding place and shelter:

No one is holy like the LORD! There is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. (1 Samuel 2:2)

So maybe you're feeling exposed to life and circumstances you can't control. There's a storm on the horizon of your life, and you sense a desperate need to get somewhere safe. If you've trusted in Christ as your only hope of salvation, you have a secure place waiting for you in your relationship with God.

• He's all powerful.
• He knows everything.
• He loves you more than anyone.
• He will never leave you or forsake you.
• In short, He's a hiding place who can give you a pocket full of Sonshine.

That's an earworm I don't mind having stuck in my head!

Head: God is a hiding place for His children, a place for safety and security.

Heart: Feeling insecure? Perhaps because you left the security of your heavenly Father. How amazing that at any time we can go home and find the protection we all need?

Hands: Think through the places you sometimes go to when you feel like hiding, and why God is the only true shelter from life's difficulties.