WANDERING OFF

Psalm 56:8 NKJV You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your book?

Have you ever been in the woods and you’ve wandered off down a path because it invited you in, only to find you’ve become a bit lost? It happened to my eight year old son many years ago when he wandered off on his own in the woods on holiday and we had to go looking for him! Thankfully we found him.😊

It can happen to us spiritually as well. We can be walking along quite happily and then for some reason we wander down a path of doubting what God has said in His word. We wander down the ‘what if’ pathway which is a dead end, or maybe we’ve gone wandering off into the distraction path of the internet or other pressing things like work, and we seem to feel a bit wandered or lost.

It’s interesting to know God knows all about our wanderings and He writes them in his book so He knows exactly where we are in order to bring us back again. He has seen all our tears of disappointment, of grief, and our tears of bewilderment when we don’t understand but we keep going, and He says they matter to Him so much He keeps them safe in His bottle until He can wipe them all away. I’m sure He must have many bottles!😊

So be encouraged today to know if you’ve wandered off a little bit, or wandered far away, the Lord is helping you find the way back to Him and to His peace. He assures us we can trust what He says and He will do what He says He will do, and I know we can all testify to the faithfulness of our God. 

Just rest in the certain knowledge that He loves you, and He cares deeply for you and about you. He says turn around and call out to Him, and He will restore and strengthen you. He will bring you back to His paths of peace and joy and the good plans He’s already prepared for you. In Jesus name. Amen.

Romans 10:13 GNT As the scripture says, “Everyone who calls out to the Lord for help will be saved.”


Photo: Annie Spratt on Unsplash

YOU ARE VALUABLE TO GOD

Matthew 6:26 NKJV Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

As I sit writing this there’s a wood pigeon cooing his heart out above my window! He’s often to be seen strutting about drinking from the bird bath and paddling in it, enjoying the benefits of our garden! They say they have very little brains but you’ll never see a pigeon looking worried, perhaps it’s because they instinctively know if God is caring for the sparrows, He must be looking after them as well.😊

As I thought about that I realised God wants us to enjoy all His benefits as well because He values us so highly. Psalm 103 lists them all for us - He forgives our sins, heals all our diseases, delivers our lives from destruction, crowns us with loving kindness, renews our youth, and so on. It’s all there for you and me to enter into by faith.

1 Peter 5:7 says to cast all our cares on to Him, not to carry them around in our backpack weighing us down. God wants us to know, just like the sparrows, how much more we can trust Him to look after us, day in and day out, when we’re up and when we’re down, because He loves us. 

So as we go into this week, remember our big fat pigeon and know you are being cared for by the One who holds the universe in perfect orbit and He can hold your world together too.

Our week will go much better when we remember God says we’re very valuable and not only go and drink from the bird bath of Psalm 103, but paddle around in it till we’re renewed and refreshed.😊 Amen.

Matthew 10:29-31 NLT What is the price of two sparrows—one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.

Photo by Doncoombez on Unsplash