Surround - One Good Word a Day
Let your unfailing love surround us, LORD, for our hope is in you alone. I KNOW IT WAS GRADUAL, something that had been quietly sneaking up on me for months, but when I pulled my daughter close last week, wrapping her up in a Momma Bear hug, squeezing her tight for a long moment, I suddenly realized that her head no longer fit under my chin. Surprised, I reared back just far enough to stare into a pair of pretty eyes that are no more than a couple of inches shorter than mine. “Stop growing!” I teased as I tucked her back in, trying to find a new way to pull her close, a better position from which to physically wrap her up in my arms and in my love, to shield her from the world the way I could when she was little, even as she laughingly protested and squirmed and declared she will soon be taller than me. Up until now, I’ve always easily surrounded my kids with love in the form of a bear hug—their smaller forms able to easily fit under my chin as my arms closed around them tight, encircling them in safety as I pressed a kiss to their head. And that’s how I imagine God’s love for us—an almost tangible wrapping us up in a squeezed-tight, never-let-go, nothing-can-break-it bear hug. A child completely and utterly surrounded by the arms of a good Father hugging her tightly, loving her unconditionally. Isn’t that beautiful imagery? When I text prayers to hurting friends and loved ones, I almost always ask God to surround them, to hold them close in the midst of pain, loss, and uncertainty because he tells us that this is what he does, that he will comfort us as we place our hope solely, fully in him. Lord, wrap us in your love today. Surround us with your Holy Spirit, that we can draw comfort from your nearness as we keep our hope in you alone. Amen. -Julie One Good Step: Visualize what it looks like to be surrounded by God’s unfailing love. Pull that visual to mind whenever you begin to feel anxious or uncertain, pausing to breathe deeply and to remember that you do not walk alone.Surround
