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Listen while you read: "Come Let Us To The Lord Our God"1 (Lyrics) |
Psalm 91:10-12 – No evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. (ESV)
"Arrrgh!" I gasped, as my body gave the impression of being turned into a statue! I clung to the buggy, and was mesmerized by what I had witnessed.
Outside the primary school where Zoë attends, there is a major road. A mother, buggy, baby, and child had just walked across the Pelican crossing that is in front of the school when the red “standing man” light was showing. She had walked across the one-way dual carriageway with no thought of danger because the traffic had stopped further up the road.
As a consequence, a group of mothers saw her crossing and, it appears, believing it to be safe, followed after her, not realizing that the red man was lit, which means "Stop!"
The cars zoomed down the road towards the crossing and at first beeped with annoyance, but were forced to stop as more mothers plodded across the road with their children, chatting, oblivious to their plight.
Praise God that the drivers, seeing the families, decided to stop. I guess that they were equally as shocked as I was to see this act of recklessness. After the cars had stopped, a small two- or three-year-old toddler dawdled off the pavement and across the road some six feet behind his mother and was carelessly walking in the middle of the crossing, like a lamb before lions. I could not move.
God was definitely watching over this child and probably saved his life. So I was touched by the thought that, as Christians, we, too, are children of God, no matter what age, and we are being protected by the love, grace, and providence of God, daily. Before we step into the middle of the world today, maybe it would be good to check if it is safe to step out.
Are we heedlessly tagging along behind, or are we checking for a green light?
Prayer: Lord, thank You so much for watching over us and protecting us from those things that have raged against us, known and unknown. May we seek first Your kingdom and by grace, know Your leading to righteousness today. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
Daniel 6:26b-27 – For he is the living God, enduring for ever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end. He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions. (ESV)
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Thanks, Rod, for the encouraging thoughts.
Yikes – scary scenario. Good message, Rod. Thanks.
A Real-time picture of GRACE!
I will remember it. Thanks!
Thank you for the lovely devotional. Sometimes, we just take it for granted that we are sheltered. I like to tell myself this,”trust Him and STAY IN THE MOMENT.”
A good one, Rod. I especially enjoyed your links explaining the 2 interesting words. Thank you.
God bless.
The more we are following the leader, the more we see He was in our past, in our future, and in our present. That is why our present is a gift to us — that is why it is called the present.
Rod: You know it is God’s hand that leads you to bring to us the reminders to us. God does protect us from our own stupidity, but He did give us gifts to help us on our way.
All we have to do is listen. But nudges, like yours, are further gifts from God to remind us of his presence. Thank you.
Great one, Rod. Thank you.
Admittedly, I too, made that mistake once. I was deep in thought, and followed the woman ahead of me, who began crossing before the “red hand signal” turned to the white man outline. It brought to mind similar thinking to your devotional.
Gosh, what a scare. A couple of weeks ago, we had one here – a black bear in the garden looking for lunch. A young deer was close by. In the fall there was a cougar, about to attack a deer on the outskirts of the playground. Our area is inundated with urban deer. The legal cull was halted because of an injunction.
Always happy to read your work.
Good to hear from you.