Provision and Protection

I do not like snakes, not even a little bit. And I think that dislike comes from many, many years ago when I stepped on one as my dad and I were walking on the rocks along the edge of a creek. We were collecting stones for an art project that I had been assigned at school. It was a beautiful fall day in Tennessee ... blue skies and cool temperatures ... and I had just commented to Daddy that it was the perfect day and that we were in the perfect place.

And that's when it happened ... I stepped on a snake, and it was a most horrible experience, one that I obviously have never forgotten. As the hideous creature wound itself around my pants leg, I screamed loudly and tried desperately to shake the writhing beast off, which of course only served to make it wrap itself tighter. When Daddy saw my predicament, he came running across the rocks, calmly reached down and grabbed the snake behind its head and removed it, flinging it out into the flowing water. Daddy then gathered my sobbing and shaking body into his arms and carried me to the car, speaking words of comfort and love into my ear with every step.

After my divorce, I worked three jobs for a while until I finally landed a job as an editor that paid well enough for me to work only one job. I remember well the stuggles that were involved those first few years as a single mother to three young children. In order to keep a roof over our heads and food on our table, I worked many long hours to provide for my family. My children's needs always came before my own, and I have never regretted for one minute my decision to view life in that order. I never resented the necessary and often difficult sacrifices that were required of me to be able to care for my kids. Though at times I grew weary and I often worried about how to make ends meet, I look at my children now as young adults and know beyond the shadow of any doubt that it was worth it all.

As surely as my dad protected me on that day beside the creek, and as surely as I worked hard to provide for my children, I've come to realize that God my heavenly Father showers me with both protection and provision even when I don't ask Him to do so and most certainly when I don't deserve His tender care. Looking back, there have been countless times when He has seen the danger ahead of me ... even when I was rushing headlong into that very danger ... and carefully protected me by steering me in a different direction. There have been so many situations that I've knowingly and willingly walked into when He in His wisdom and mercy provided me a way out ... even though I had been openly disobedient in my pursuit of the wrong path.

So tonight, once again, I'm reminded that my God truly is an awesome God. Protection ... keeping me from danger ... provision ... offering me a way out ... what an awesome God indeed.