God... Who Takes Care

Of Those Who Belong to Him
Deuteronomy 33:1-34:12

"The Lord surely loves his people and takes care of all those who belong to him. They bow down at his feet and they are taught by him." (Deuteronomy 33:3)

This beautiful blessing given by Moses to the Israelites once again depicts the comforting message that he passed on to the people from God. Yesterday it was about the Lord not leaving us. Today it is about God's loving character which urges Him to take care of His people. And in turn, this care and consideration motivates His children to bow before Him, praising and honoring and aspiring to learn from the Lord.

When I think about the phrase "take care of...", it brings me a sense of comfort. Only when you really care about someone do you "take care" of him/her. I can only think that the position of the word "care" cannot be coincidental. We take care of little brothers and sisters, pets, family members, friends, those in need. On the other hand, we only "watch" or "guard" other types of things. Lord, thank You for caring enough to take care of me. I bow before You, I praise Your name, and I seek to learn Your ways.

Of Those in Trouble
Psalm 40:11-17

"Lord, do not hold back your mercy from me; let your love and truth always protect me. Troubles have surrounded me; there are too many to count." (Psalm 40:11-12)

Sometimes we need more of that care than other times. This psalm describes a time when troubles were 'too many to count.' And sometimes it seems that way. Troubles seem to come at us from all sides at the exact inopportune moment. And all it seems to take for trouble to enter in is another form of trouble. I remember when I was struggling it took a wonderful child of God to strictly tell me, "Katie, God's bigger than ______." Such a simple statement, but everything fits in it! God is bigger than everything! God's mercy and love and truth are bigger and stronger that the worst trouble, than a whole herd of troubles. Lord, thank You for Your love and truth that protect me from the biggest troubles... for You are bigger than them all.

Of Those Who are Afraid
Luke 8:1-25

"The followers went to Jesus and woke him, saying, 'Master! Master! We will drown!' Jesus got up and gave a command to the wind and the waves. They stopped, and it became calm." (Luke 8:24)

I'm sure that someone's taken the time to count how often someone mentions in the Bible, "Do not be afraid." And while I'm not that person, I can recall that it's a quite frequent repetition. It must be because we are so prone to feeling that fear... fear of the future, of failure, of rejection, of harm or pain or sadness or solitude. We fear what we do not know... perhaps because it entails recognizing that we do not know anything. We can only be comfortable with the multitude of things that we do not know, if we embrace it. We must appreciate the fact that there is only one who knows all... and that is our Lord... Lord of heaven and earth. Then, we will not be afraid of what we don't know. We can rest in the knowledge that God knows... and that is indeed enough.

When the waves get tough, Jesus gets tougher. He'll calm the storm. He has it all under control, even when we become afraid because he seems to be sleeping at the back of the boat.