Betcha do not expect to see those two words together, but those are the words that just keep cropping up in my life and so I decided to sit down today and study these words together. Weird, I know...but I am not feeling well and I have never been exactly normal. And it turned out to be pretty interesting.
I am having to acknowledge, in a very real way, that there is evil in the world. And I am furthermore having to acknowledge that this evil can lurk in absolutely anyplace and I need to protect those I love at all times. This is an overwhelming feeling. As I am all about mentoring and I look to God as the perfect parent mentor, I thought about how He must feel as he tries to love and care for all of His children, even the ones who inflict pain and evil on others of His children. That is an overwhelming thought as well. But He does it, and He does it perfectly. And He so often makes me feel protected, despite the evil around me...
Then it struck me, COVENANTS. I feel most safe when I am living up to the covenants that I have made with my Father. Most of you know that I am all about free will and so I have not entered into the covenants with my God lightly. But when I chose to live up to the covenants that I have made, there is a larger sense of safety than when I am "kicking against the pricks". Just as when my own children are more safe when they are willing to bend their will to what I ask of them, when I am humble and choose to open my heart to what He would have me do, there is a corresponding safety that is mine. And as you study the covenant peoples in scripture, that is very evident. In fact, most of you who may read this probably already know this, but I tend to come to a lot of things the long way around.
Because of the fact that this is a mortal existence and the fact that there is free will available to all of God's children, I cannot demand the safety that I would love to have for me and my family and my other loved ones. But I can go a long way to affording all of those I love some protection if I just humble myself enough to ask and to live up to the gifts and promises that have been offered to me. I am so far from doing this well, but I should not allow this to overwhelm me, I do need to figure out what small step I can take first to bring myself more in line with His will and vision.
There IS power and safety in making and keeping covenants with the Lord. The scriptures illustrate that over and over. We are not the ones who "draft" these kinds of covenants... they are given to us in clear terms from the Lord. We choose whether or not we accept them. We decide whether or not we choose to covenant with Christ. And as long as our covenant with Christ is in tact, then His infinite power and grace covers our weakness. What a beuatiful relationship to be in! It fills my heart with tremendous gratitude and reverance, that such a Being would offer me, stubborn and proud as I am, His healing love!! We surely are not equal parties in these covenants. "Oh to grace how great a debtor, daily I'm constrained to be."
ReplyDeleteFree will... He gave it to us, and it is truly the ONLY thing we can give back to Him. Choosing to make His will our will... that is where the safety lies.
Interesting that we both posted on covenants yesterday afternoon! Must be something we should be reflecting on! Thanks for the thoughts!!