"The Lord is faithful to all his promises
and loving toward all he has made.
The Lord upholds all those who fall
and lifts up all who are bowed down." (Ps. 145:13b-14)
and loving toward all he has made.
The Lord upholds all those who fall
and lifts up all who are bowed down." (Ps. 145:13b-14)
By God's very Sovereign and Supreme nature, all creatures are subject to Him. He is God and Father over all and through all and in all (Eph. 4:6). The Lord is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made (Ps. 145:17).
Having grown up enjoying adventure sports and just playing hard in general, I've been known to take my share of spills as well a thrills. One particular Halloween night, the Trick-or-Treaters were retiring from their swarm across the neighborhood and there was still time left to go down the street and see what Mr. Woodson had done to "spookify" his house. Each year he created an elaborate scene to make the Trick-or-Treaters "earn" their goodies. I think sometimes kids were so scared, they often lost more than they gained!
This particular year, Mr. Woodson was apparently in rare form and I wanted to be sure and catch the full impact of the experience. My parents urged me to walk down the street since it was well past dark, but I chose to ride my bike instead.
Ignoring a second urging from Dad, I bounded down the street peddling as fast as I could and jumping curbs along the way to try and mediate my excitement. That year, I never saw Mr. Woodson's "haunted" display... I never made it there.
The little I remember involved flipping over the handlebars, hitting my head on the asphalt street and eventually standing in our garage bloodied enough I could have been featured in Mr. Woodson's neighborhood horror show, only my injuries were real!
Moments later, sitting in my bathroom, Mom started to attend to my wounds and then, for the first time in my life, I nearly passed out. Thankfully, Dad was right there to steady me. In an instant he was splashing water in my face to keep me alert. Things in my vision would turn dark and looking at myself in the mirror, I could see myself turning various shades of white. Dad would shake me back into consciousness and splash more water. Not my idea of fun and I still bear some of the physical scars.
When I think of the Fatherhood of God, I know He has been there to pick me up when I've spiritually fallen down, injured myself and nearly "passed out." The fact I ever healed at all is testimony of His loving care. God has always been careful to lift me up in His love and righteousness and get me back on my feet.
I am finding another way to fall and avoid such painful injury is to voluntarily bow down before the sovereign God. This is best done before flying "over the handlebars and banging one's head on the asphalt." Yet, when we do take those head over heals tumbles, God is still there to "lift us up." But when I choose to voluntarily bow before God's throne, the pain of the process is greatly reduced. There may be some pain in acknowleging my humility before His perfection, but God is still ready to "lift me up" (James 4:10).
I'm thankful today for our Heavenly Father who, like many of us fortunate enough to have a caring earthly dad, is loving and willing to lift us up when we fall either by reverent choice or by painful accident.
Having grown up enjoying adventure sports and just playing hard in general, I've been known to take my share of spills as well a thrills. One particular Halloween night, the Trick-or-Treaters were retiring from their swarm across the neighborhood and there was still time left to go down the street and see what Mr. Woodson had done to "spookify" his house. Each year he created an elaborate scene to make the Trick-or-Treaters "earn" their goodies. I think sometimes kids were so scared, they often lost more than they gained!
This particular year, Mr. Woodson was apparently in rare form and I wanted to be sure and catch the full impact of the experience. My parents urged me to walk down the street since it was well past dark, but I chose to ride my bike instead.
Ignoring a second urging from Dad, I bounded down the street peddling as fast as I could and jumping curbs along the way to try and mediate my excitement. That year, I never saw Mr. Woodson's "haunted" display... I never made it there.The little I remember involved flipping over the handlebars, hitting my head on the asphalt street and eventually standing in our garage bloodied enough I could have been featured in Mr. Woodson's neighborhood horror show, only my injuries were real!
Moments later, sitting in my bathroom, Mom started to attend to my wounds and then, for the first time in my life, I nearly passed out. Thankfully, Dad was right there to steady me. In an instant he was splashing water in my face to keep me alert. Things in my vision would turn dark and looking at myself in the mirror, I could see myself turning various shades of white. Dad would shake me back into consciousness and splash more water. Not my idea of fun and I still bear some of the physical scars.
When I think of the Fatherhood of God, I know He has been there to pick me up when I've spiritually fallen down, injured myself and nearly "passed out." The fact I ever healed at all is testimony of His loving care. God has always been careful to lift me up in His love and righteousness and get me back on my feet.
I am finding another way to fall and avoid such painful injury is to voluntarily bow down before the sovereign God. This is best done before flying "over the handlebars and banging one's head on the asphalt." Yet, when we do take those head over heals tumbles, God is still there to "lift us up." But when I choose to voluntarily bow before God's throne, the pain of the process is greatly reduced. There may be some pain in acknowleging my humility before His perfection, but God is still ready to "lift me up" (James 4:10).
I'm thankful today for our Heavenly Father who, like many of us fortunate enough to have a caring earthly dad, is loving and willing to lift us up when we fall either by reverent choice or by painful accident.
1 comment:
Christopher, thank you for reminding me that my Heavenly Father is always unconditionally there for me. Sometimes our earthly Fathers don't provide the support and love we need but our Heavenly Father will always come through & put us back on our feet...even when we don't deserve it.
KAbston
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