Jesus loves us so much. I don’t think that my head will ever be able to wrap itself around how much I am loved by Him. It is too life-changing, and I am too small.You could write a million blog posts about this topic, but just for today, here is a small thought.
There was a cartoon that passed through my inbox a few years ago. In the first panel of the cartoon, a man is praying that Jesus would stop letting so many bad things happen to him. A couple of rocks are hitting his head and body. In the next panel, Jesus is standing with his arms spread, a barrage of rocks hitting him and bouncing off his torso. Only a few rocks actually make it past him. “OK, Bob. Is this a little better?”, He asks.
No one gets a daily report of how many bad things could have happened to them that day, but didn’t. No one gets an itemized list of how much worse things would be without the mercy of God and without our prayers and the intercession of others on our behalf. I have thought often about Michael’s two chainsaw injuries, the worse of which he was miraculously saved from nerve damage or a full amputation of his arm (or head!).
In more everyday examples, though, think about how many times you get to a restaurant just ahead of a crowd (you could have been stuck behind everyone), or your dishwasher works great when you have company in town all weekend (it could have been broken). What about when all of your children get some horrendous stomach bug, but you somehow don’t succumb to it until after everyone has been nursed back to health (how awful is it to be sick when you still have to take care of sick babies!). Jesus’ mercy and selflessness are so great.
There are many little things He does out of love for us that we don’t notice. Things to help us. Things that He knows will make us smile. He smooths out our days, and orchestrates our moments to provide for and bless many of our smallest needs and littlest joys. We double-check the timer one last time and narrowly avoid burning dinner (again). A friend unexpectedly sends a much-needed note of encouragement. We manage to not yell at our four-year-old about drawing the letter “H” on the wall with a Sharpie. We have just enough left on an old gift card to finally buy a new dress we have been waiting for to go on sale. When we are living tight financially, someone treats us to dinner at our favorite restaurant. These are little things, and probably are not the very best examples. My point is, though, as a sweet friend of mine always says, “It’s all gift.”
It’s a thought. That the blows that do make it to us in life are covered in mercy, and that Heavenly hands often smooth the way for small blessings and give us powerful graces that we never even know about. It’s a thought, today, that all is gift from our Father who loves us.
Happy Valentine’s Day to each of you! My prayer for you today is that Jesus would give you the grace to recognize His merciful and loving hand in your day today.
"Oh how he loves us" – one of my favorite phrases. I'm convinced that there's so much that DOESN'T happen to me and so many happy blessings that DO because of God's mercy and sweet affection for my soul. It's so humbling.
Lovely post 🙂
Thank you, Marianne!
Beautiful reminder that we only see a part of the works of His mighty hand in our lives. I try to remind myself that EVERYTHING that happens in my life passes through His loving hands and this helps me to trust that His will is perfect and no matter what, all will be well. Blessings to you and your beautiful family. Marianne