Shadow of His Wings

A couple of weeks ago I had a great weekend with my cousin, her husband and their three young girls at our cottage. It had been quite a while since we were able to spend time together so it was quite a gift. Tonight I opened a picture of their youngest little girl holding the neighbour's puppy. She was so excited to pick up the puppy and wrap her arms around him. She held him tightly close to her and looked up at us with a look of excitement, love and pride. The poor little puppy wasn't as excited to be hugged and loved by our little one and he began to squirm his way out of her arms. In no time he fell out of her arms to the floor. Without broken paws, bruises or bangs he ran into the living room with his tail wagging. Our little girl quietly looked at him with worry and I am sure a bit of a hurt heart.

That memory had me thinking that Jesus must feel the same emotions when He sees us. He is so excited that He wants to pull us near and hug us close with His protective arms. Only too often we squirm out of His loving, protective arms, running away and often falling on our faces. The good news is that He is still standing there waiting to scoop us back up again, despite the number of times we struggle to squirm away.

I am thankful He never tires of picking us up. It is not He that drops us to our faces, it is our squirming that does. He loves us and covers us with abounding love and grace. I am confident that I can run to Him for protection and refuge in the most difficult of times. He will pour out His reassurance and love and provide a place of rest for us at all times.

Matthew 18:12 "What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, will He not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if He finds it, I tell you the truth, He is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost."

Psalm 57:1 "Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed."

Sometimes in the midst of trials or troubles, I have found myself running, flailing my arms and pacing in a place of confusion forgetting to seek refuge in His arms. This week if you find yourself facing trails or troubles, seek Him through prayer, worship and scripture. He promises to be there.

Night....... Cheri