Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
After an officer searched me, I stepped into the county jail, signed the visitor’s log, and sat in the crowded lobby. I prayed silently, watching adults fidgeting and sighing while young children complained about the wait. Over an hour later, an armed guard called a list of names including mine. He led my group into a room and motioned us to our assigned chairs. When my stepson sat in the chair on the other side of the thick glass window and picked up the telephone receiver, the depth of my helplessness overwhelmed me. But as I wept, God assured me that my stepson was still within His reach.
In Psalm 139, David says to God, “You know me. . . ; you are familiar with all my ways” (vv. 1–3). His proclamation of an all-knowing God leads to a celebration of His intimate care and protection (v. 5). Overwhelmed by the vastness of God’s knowledge and the depth of His personal touch, David asks two rhetorical questions: “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” (v. 7).
When we or our loved ones are stuck in situations that leave us feeling hopeless and helpless, God’s hand remains strong and steady. Even when we believe we’ve strayed too far for His loving redemption, we’re always within His reach.
By: Xochitl Dixon
Xochitl (So-Cheel) Dixon has a heart for intercessory prayer, being rooted in Scripture, and growing with God’s people. As a first-generation Mexican American wife of a Black man, mother, stepmother, and grandmother to biracial and multicultural children, Xochitl celebrates our differences and sameness as God’s purposefully connected image-bearers. She's an advocate for inclusion and equality based on the strong biblical teaching of God’s intentional diversity. Though she suffers from chronic pain, fatigue, and limited mobility due to an upper thoracic back injury in 1992, Xochitl comes alongside readers around the world with vulnerability and transparency, sharing the truths of Scripture in life-applicable and relevant ways.
Crossing generational and cultural boundaries, she reaches international readers through her contributions to Our Daily Bread, Guideposts’ All God’s Creatures, social media platforms, and through her books. Waiting for God: Trusting Daily in God’s Plan and Pace won second place in the 2020 Selah Awards. Her first children’s picture book, _Different Like Me _is a 2021 ECPA Christian Book Award Finalist and a 2021 Selah Award Finalist.
With more than nineteen years of experience ministering to children, teens, and women, Xochitl serves the Lord alongside her service dog, Callie. Sharing encouragement and prayers at www.xedixon.com and on social media, she spreads the gospel and inspires others to love God and others with Spirit-empowered courage, confidence, and joy.
