Blog – Page 2

The stores this time of year are full of cute furry stuffed chicks and bunnies, yummy chocolates, jelly beans, baskets, and colorful plastic eggs in anticipation of Easter.

This morning I was reading in Psalm 91 and thought of those cute little chicks and their fuzzy soft feathers. “He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are his armor and protection.” (V. 4). I could picture a mother hen gathering her brood under her wings to protect them from other birds of prey or the cold blasts of air. It’s safe, warm and I can feel the rhythm of the heart beat. If God shelters us with his wings, how is it that bad things sometimes happen to good people and good things happen sometimes to bad people?

Later on in Psalm 91 it says that “if you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home.” (vs. 9,10). No evil will come to us? What?? I’ve had breast cancer, had an employee embezzle, my husband died. I believe God with all my heart and yet have had my heart broken.

Faith in the sheltering wings of God does not remove hardships. While we are under those wings there may be a storm going on with tree limbs falling on those wings, hail beating down, and lightening. In the commotion we may get knocked around a bit but we are still secure under His wings. Those wings of God took the beating for us, became all bloodied, bent out of shape. They were wounded for our transgressions and bruised by our iniquities (Isaiah 53:5).

Anything that has come through his wings to reach us is not an evil. It can’t be because God is good. In him is no evil. The sorrows and afflictions work for our good. We may not understand these pains but we can be assured that in the end they occur for our good or the greater goodness of the Kingdom of God (Roman 8:28).

It is our choice to take flight to the refuge of God’s wings. He extends his wings to all who call on the name of the Lord. It is by his great mercy that we have been saved, because Jesus died and was raised from the dead. Now we live with great expectation and have a priceless inheritance of life eternal (1 Peter 1: 3-5). “So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine 1Peter 1: 6,7).”

Thank you God for taking on human form, suffering and dying for me. You are faithful and true to Your Word. You are the same yesterday, today and forever. The best is yet to come!

On the journey,

Trish

I have been doing substitute teaching in Bridgman at the elementary, middle and high school level. Friday, March 17, and the Thursday before it I substituted in a first grade class. The children had made leprechaun traps in hopes of capturing a leprechaun on St Patrick’s Day. The teacher had told me she usually goes all out but I didn’t have to do anything except have the kids set up their traps Thursday night before they left school and set a bag of treats for each child she had prepared with a note from a leprechaun for Friday. My teacher background kicked in and I decided we needed to have evidence that a leprechaun had in fact come to our classroom but no one was able to catch him. That naughty leprechaun had snuck in through the window, knocked over chairs, dumped out blocks and other toys, tied up chairs, and knocked over the children’s traps!

Leo The Leprechaun had also used the classroom bathroom which turned the toilet water green and left footprints on the toilet seat. He left his footprints around the classroom as well as notes that said, “You can’t catch me!”

Leprechauns are mythological creatures, a type of fairy in Irish folklore. According to Wikipedia they partake in mischief, are solitary creatures who spend their time making and mending shoes. They have a pot of gold hidden at the end of a rainbow. They are always on the hunt for more gold. The children in my classroom that day were certainly disappointed that we could not catch the leprechaun.

St. Patrick’s Day at school is focused on wearing green so you don’t get pinched and trying to catch a leprechaun. St. Patrick’s Day was actually named after a man whose real name was Maewyn Succat. At the age of 16 he was captured in Scotland by Irish raiders and spent several years as a slave in Ireland. It was during that time that he learned various customs, rituals, and the language of the Druids. He eventually told these people about Christ. Many people believe he used the shamrock as a symbol of the Trinity. He died March 17, 461.

It is said that the Celts, descendants of Noah, traveled from Spain to Ireland in the 4th century BC. The myth goes on to say that Celts took over the Tuatha De Danaan tribe. With time, the Tuatha De Danaan evolved into the “fairies and leprechauns of later Irish legend, whose spirits haunt the tombs and mounds that they once built” (How the Irish Saved Civilization, p. 80). If leprechauns were caught they always tried to outwit their captures of where the gold was hidden. Fortunately, St. Patrick was a stark contrast to the leprechaun. Patrick generously and graciously offered knowledge of the treasure of eternal life to his former captors.

Do you long for a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow? Maybe it’s a pot of something else. What would you like in your pot of gold?

Jesus Christ, the maker of the rainbow, is my pot of gold. Because I believe God is who he says he is, does what he says, and I have chosen to follow his ways I have the ultimate gift of eternal life. His gift of salvation, his word and promises are far more valuable than gold (Psalm 19:9b-11).

1 Peter 1:3-5 What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all—life healed and whole.

There is a prayer called St. Patrick’s Lorica. It was written out for protection and placed on shields of soldiers and knights as they went out to battle. This is my prayer for you today.

What’s at the end of your rainbow?

On the journey,

Trish

Category: Blog

Under the Wings of God

Leaping Leprechaun