Enveloped

If you've ever had a very tiny child try to physically climb into you (picture feet on belly, hands digging in shoulders and head in chest) it is a wonderful image of taking shelter and of declaring to others in pursuit "Hands off!  I'm on base!"  Experiencing this recently, I thought of a place at Tybee Island that feels like climbing into this same kind of safe place with God, for me.  It is such a wonderful feeling to be enveloped by Him...by His power, His goodness, His strength, His kindness, His control, His compassion, His love and His arms.


Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.  Psalm 62.1-2


Little babies need touch to grow.  But they want more than a mere high five or poke.  They want to be enveloped in affectionate arms, pressed against a peaceful body, held tightly so as to know someone else is taking care of them.  An orphan does not have this certainty and there is no promise of that enveloping each day.  Survival and provision require a bit of a fight, some initiative and pursuit.  I live so many of my days, even as a Christian, assuming as my friends Anne and Walter said, "If it is to be, it depends on me."  There is an orphan inclination inside my heart that regularly forgets I am enveloped by strong capable arms upon which everything depends.  I can climb His body digging my feet into His belly and my fingers into His shoulders. But, unlike an orphan, I do not have to be afraid or grip so tightly because He has me and has promised never to let me go, ever.


"I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”  When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”  Gen. 28:15-16


I can hide in Him, rest in Him, trust in Him and depend upon Him rather than myself.  Why do I functionally live as if I have been left alone, as if bringing His Kingdom to come were in my hands, as if the well being of others and myself were resting upon my initiative?  How grateful I am that it is not so.  Like the baby being held securely who looks up with a great big grin, may this be my posture in the arms of my Father today.


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 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. Psalm 139:7-10