Grains of Sand

Pixabay I've slept in some unusual places over the years. For several nights, while we were doing children's ministry in a remote town in the Colombian mountains, I slept in the storage room where the our farmer host kept his coffee. Sacks and sacks, piled floor to ceiling with my little cot in the middle. It was a caffeine-addict's paradise! I did wonder what would happen if we had an earthquake during the night—it would have made an interesting epitaph. It isn't true every morning, but I often wake up and give thanks to the Lord for a good night's sleep and for His protection while I slept. I seldom have trouble sleeping (except during those dreaded years of perimenopause that every woman hates) and I am grateful for that gift. The psalmist, David, slept in some unusual places too. Unlike me, he had every reason to think that he could awaken at any moment with a sword at his throat and his enemies gloating over his soon demise. It's a wonder he slept a...

news.nationalpost.com (Google Images) The events of this past week in Quebec and Ontario and the deaths of two Canadian soldiers, and their two disturbed assailants, highlights the anxiety that lies, often barely concealed, at the core of our society. It seems like the world, even our fairly isolated world here in Canada, is falling apart. As I read Psalm 11 this morning, I wanted to echo the psalmist’s confidence that everything is under control—no mean feat when danger seems to lurk in broad daylight in “safe” places like parking lots and national memorials. David begins by saying: “ In the Lord I take refuge .” That’s the best place to start. In one of my Bibles I have written in the margin: “The righteous know to go to the refuge.” But those who were not so secure immediately questioned his resolve to find comfort in the embrace of God. “ How then can you say to me, ” he wrote: ‘Flee like a bird to your mountain. For look, the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows again...

Reading: Isaiah 44-48 My last remaining aunt celebrates her 100 th birthday today. I don’t know that I want to live that long but since the timing is not up to me I will rest, as my aunt does, in some neat promises from today’s reading. God, through Isaiah, is addressing His children. He says: “ Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all you who remain of the house of Israel, you whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth. Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you ” (46:3, 4, NIV). From birth until death, God promises to carry us in safety. The verses surrounded these two remind me of why God can make such a sweeping promise. He’s the Creator. “ I am the Lord, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself ” (44:24, NIV). He’s the Redeemer, the One who has brought us int...

MacDesktop Wallpapers " Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit " —Jeremiah 17:7, 8, NIV 'nuff said!

“ His eyes are on the ways of men; he sees their every step ” —Job 34:21 NIV Every man, every step, every moment. Try to wrap your mind around that. It isn’t as though one can get lost in the shuffle, or slip under his radar. It’s every man, every step, ever moment. He sees it all. David said it well in Psalm 139: “ You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways…you hem me in behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me…Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise up on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,’ even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine li...

One of my favourite writers visited my blog today so I scurried over to her site to return the favour. I've added Jan Ackerson to my blog roll so be sure to visit her at Glory Be . Jan's a master of the pen (or keyboard) and I know you'll enjoy what she has to say. I started reading Song of Songs this morning. I'm not much into romance but there are so many delightful word pictures that remind me of how much God cares for me. One of those is this one from chapter 1, verses 6, which says: " His left arm is under my head and his right arm embraces me ." And since a picture is worth a thousand words, or so they say, I thought between the verses and the picture that follows, you'll get the message, loud and clear. God loves you. I picture a baby rather than a bride, a dependent child held securely, who has complete trust in those arms to shelter, defend and embrace for all time. That's love—that's God's love embracing me.