He covers me

THE SET UP:

I'm amazed at how much the Lord continues to teach me as I walk this wilderness journey that I am currently on. No matter where I'm at and no matter what I'm doing, He is constantly showing me new and wondrous things to keep me encouraged and to show me that He is still there on this arduous and treacherous trek. My wife and I are on a brief get away. This is something that doesn't happen much since the lay off, so when the opportunity came to go see her parents, we took full advantage. We decided, well, her and her dad, decided to go to the zoo. Not "the" zoo, but the petting zoo. A place where children can interact with animals such as goats, sheep and ducks. Included with the admission was a wagon ride. A tractor pulled a covered wagon on a trail that winded through a field of zebras, llamas, camels, ostrich, antelope and other assorted animals you usually only see on television. The driver slowly pulled up to a pair of bison. He got off of the tractor and explained to us that these particular buffalo were only 7 months old and weighed one thousand pounds. He told us they will eventually grow to be about three thousand pounds at adulthood. I weigh about twenty eight hundred so I feel pretty good about myself, comparatively speaking. We looked at the hill above the buffalo and saw the antelope. He told us that one of the mothers just gave birth to a baby about thirty minutes before. He said if we keep our eyes open, we will possibly see the mother and baby. Immediately, everyone on the wagon started looking for the spectacle.

THE LESSON:

As we topped the first hill we came around a bend in the trail. Sure enough, on the left hand side of the wagon was the little baby. The mother was on the ground while the baby wobbled and wiggled to try to get its balance. What a sweet little sight it was. Only thirty minutes old and already trying to find its legs in this world. It was really something to see. I just enjoyed the ride and the time with my family. I was really loving watching my children and their reaction to the animals. Any one who has children knows exactly what I'm talking about. We were moving along waiting for the next group of animals to catch our sight when the tractor started to slow down. It eventually came to a stop. I wondered why we were stopping. I didn't see anything but a rock in the grass. At least that's what I thought it was. The driver pointed to the rock and asked, "do you see that?" He told us that it was also a baby deer. The mother put the baby there to protect it from danger. Because the baby was too little to keep up with the herd, she placed it in the safest place possible to ensure that it would be hid from predators. She would come back every couple of hours to check on the baby and feed it. After a couple of weeks, the baby would be able to run as fast as the rest of the herd and it would be virtually on its own. Wow! That is awesome how God put that in the mother to take care of her baby like that. Here comes the sappy part. I began to realize that is exactly what our Heavenly Father does to us. Once we are born, that is saved, or born again in a new relationship with Christ, He hides us in a safe place to make sure nothing harms us. I'm not talking physically. He makes sure that nothing can harm us spiritually. As long as we stay where He puts us and do exactly what He says, no harm will come to us. Once we are "big enough" He lets us go and run with the herd and find our own way. As long as we do exactly what we have learned and stay within the safety that He has provided for us, we will not be harmed spiritually. It is only if we stray from that safety will we find danger. Only if we do what we know is right will we be saved from the "roaring lion seeking whom he may devour". Father thank you for the safety that you have provided. Thank you for your teachings that keep us on the straight and narrow way. Help us to never leave the safe place where you have put us to keep us from danger. Again, it only took two little animals to show me the providential care of a loving, Heavenly Father. Take care little ones.

LW