“Let me see if it sinks,” I told her as I carefully placed my hands under water to catch the doll in case the Barbie decided to take an unwanted plunged into the deep waters of the lake. Sure enough, it sunk. “Maybe we need to put your doll away so you don’t lose her in the lake,” I cautioned my daughter.
“No,” she decided, “I love her, so I will protect.” She tightened her grip on the cherished doll and continued to play contentedly for the remainder of the swim and I decided not to say anything else about it because she was right! She loved her and she was not going to let anything bad happen to her doll.
The connection between my daughter’s love for her doll and God’s love for His children began to take shape quickly in my mind. Isn’t that a lot like God’s love for us? He would rather us be with Him in His firm, loving grip amidst potential danger than to be sitting on the “safe” shoreline separated from Him, because in the long run He knows He loves us so much that He will protect us.
How many times to do I pray “God go before me”, or “God be with me”, or “God bless me where I am or where I am going”, or “God be my rear guard and while You’re at it, could You just cover my back for me? Will You please?”? When in actuality the more appropriate prayer would be more along the lines of “God, where are you? I want to be there, too” or “Lord, I want to follow You. Lead me,” or “Where You go, I want to go, Jesus”.
From the first moment we crack our eyes open to greet a new day we face thousands of choices: to sleep-in another measly little thirty minutes or to get up and read the Bible, to have a bowl of healthy cereal or to breakfast on those comforting donuts, to write an encouragement note to someone struggling or to read the latest Facebook news, to buy a Starbucks Venti White Chocolate Mocha or to give five bucks to the homeless man on the corner of the road, to check our email or to sit with our children and read them a book. And on and on the list of choices we face every day goes.
At every crossroads we choose a path: ours or God’s. Instead of inviting God along for our ride, I believe He has invited us to join Him and be near Him where He is at work. The choice to follow Jesus is not a one-time deal; it is a continual, active, intentional, every day, every moment effort to live in Him, where He is, and what He is doing. Why? Why would I do that for crying out loud?! Why would I want to do things His way and not my way? Because He loves us and His love is trustworthy. How do I know I can trust His love? Because He is God and only God can be perfect and extend perfect love because...
...God is love…
love always protects and…
….love never fails.
{1 John 4:16 and 1 Corinthians 13:7, 8}
2 Spout:
Yes! Yes! Yes! Great and beautiful post! What an encouragement and exhortation to me today. Thank you!
That is awesome Jamie! Thanks for the encouraging feedback!
-rebecca
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