Good morning! Last night we went to Josh’s baseball game and it rained the whole time – BOO! The boys did not complain for a moment – kids are so resilient! I think they actually enjoyed it because it was something different that many of them hadn’t experienced before.
I went right from work to meet Mer at the field and she brought me a sweatshirt, a jacket, a snack, and most importantly my giant umbrella! When I say this thing is giant, it really is an understatement! I used to use it for work all the time because it was big enough to put over myself and the electronic equipment that I worked on.
As I was standing there leaning on the outfield fence listening to the soothing sound of rain drops hitting the umbrella, I was so thankful for the protection from the rain. I then began to think about the covering of God over my life!
“He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.”
Psalm 91:4
What a beautiful picture – the tender loving care of a bird protecting its young. To be able to receive protection, the young bird had to remain close to allow their Mom or Dad to wrap their wings around them to provide the covering. Once the wings were in place, the young bird was completely surrounded and protected from any outside force.
In the same way, we must remain close to God to experience the embrace of His loving arms and the protection of His covering! It’s not that He is unable to protect us from far away, but rather He allows us to make our own decisions and choose to leave His covering.
I could have decided that if I felt it was too difficult to hold my umbrella over my head the whole time, to put it down. If I made that choice, I would have to deal with getting wet.
While God does not force us to stay close to Him, He desires for us to remain in Him. His desire is to care for us, love us, protect us, and bless us!
“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.”
Psalm 91:1
When Josh was done with his game, we walked back to the car together. I was trying to walk closely with Josh to help keep him under the covering of the umbrella, but he kept separating from me just enough to where he was getting wet. Eventually, I reached out my hand and grabbed him to pull him close.
Similarly, God draws us to be close to Him because He loves us so much!
“The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.”
Jeremiah 31:3
He has everything we could ever want or need, but it takes a heart of surrender to yield to His will and not ours. And when we experience the covering of our loving God, we will want to bring others in as well! As much as God wants to bring us under His protection, we will also begin to desire to bring others in!
When I grabbed Josh to bring him under the umbrella, it gave me joy to be able to keep him dry. I know that he was already wet from being out in the rain for the previous two hours, but I wanted to care for him when I had the opportunity. I wanted to express my love to him and display nurturing protection.
God, our Heavenly Father, cares for us even more than that and offers us His love, care, and protection if we will choose to walk with Him!
Heavenly Father, thank You for the way You love and protect us! Thank you for drawing us close to You in every circumstance. Help us to remain in You to experience the covering of Your wings and the warmth of Your love! In Jesus Name – AMEN!
Be Transformed 