Sunday, November 9th, the sun was rising on a
lovely morning. Before church, Richard
and I went for a walk in our neighborhood.
The trees on our street were pretty bare. Uninviting naked branches reached up to the
blue sky. Then I noticed a big red
lollipop up ahead, standing bold and bright!
"How did that guy hold on to all his leaves?" I asked my husband. He didn't have an answer. But the Lord had a message for me.
Despite the assault of cold temps and high winds, the growing exodus of color in the landscape, and my inability to change the unavoidable harsh winter ahead, this season was planned by God!
He created me too, so He could love me, and
His delighting in me makes me joyful. I
don't need to bend to the pressures that would steal the pleasure of His
company, and all He has planned to accomplish in and through me! "The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me"
was David's confidence in Psalm 138:8.
A sometimes cold, dark and spiritually destitute world
needs to see the difference Jesus makes -- in us! So we have to make it our first business each
day, to get ourselves happy in Jesus, and stay in that sweet place in Him. His love is unconditional and
unchanging. "You light up my life
Lord!"
You may find yourself in a season of uncertainty,
loneliness, feeling marginalized or mistreated.
SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) grips many right about now, with its
debilitating depression. Here's a
hopeful perspective -- seasons come… and go!
"The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still." Exodus 14:14
Just look at that little tree!
I've had so many opportunities to share this visual HUG FROM HEAVEN. A co-worker today asked if I remember watching the children's television program, Romper Room. Indeed, I do! I was always fascinated at the close of each show, when "Miss Betty" looked through the empty mirror right into our living rooms and singled out some of those watching; "And I see Susie, and I see Billy, and…" I don't think I ever expected to hear my name; (it's still hard to find on a mug in this country!) But my friend waited every day to hear hers! She never did!
All these years later, it is a
painful childhood memory, because she felt insignificant and "invisible". My friend was a loyal, enthusiastic member
of the preschool audience, but "Miss Betty" didn't see her.
Be sure of this…your Heavenly Father is crazy about
you. He guards you as "the apple of His eye." The idiom is used for "the person who someone loves most and is very proud of."
In Psalm 17:8, David wrote, "Keep me as the apple of Your eye."
Charles H. Spurgeon wrote of this verse:
No
part of the body more precious, more tender, and more carefully guarded than
the eye; and of the eye, no portion more peculiarly to be protected than the
central apple, the pupil, or as the Hebrew calls it, "the daughter of the
eye." The all wise Creator has placed the eye in a well-protected position;
it stands surrounded by projecting bones like Jerusalem encircled by mountains.
Moreover, its great Author has surrounded it with many tunics of inward
covering, besides the hedge of the eyebrows, the curtain of the eyelids, and
the fence of the eyelashes; and, in addition to this, he has given to every man
so high a value for his eyes, and so quick an apprehension of danger, that no
member of the body is more faithfully cared for than the organ of sight. Thus,
Lord, keep thou me, for I trust I am one with Jesus, and so a member of his
mystical body.
In The Message translation, Eugene Petersen simply
expresses David's plea…
"Keep
your eye on me…"
Believe that He does.
You may feel like a tree in a desert, but you are so precious to
Him. I had better put at least one
assurance right here in black and white, from God's immutable Word. I hope it will put the colour back in your
outlook, and help you to stand strong!
"The
Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet
you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17
