Porcelain Rabbits

Friday 6/14/2013 5:19 AM

The other day Jaci and I babysat for Quinn and Crew.  We went to the park to play on the playground equipment.  On the way there I pulled Quinn in the wagon and Jaci pushed Crew in the stroller.  On the way home I began pulling Quinn in the wagon again but about halfway home she wanted to walk.  When she walks I have a rule that she can walk on the sidewalk by herself but she has to hold my hand when crossing streets.  She does not yet fight that rule so we had a nice walk home.  As we turned down our street the sidewalk ended and she continued walking on the parkway, across people’s lawns and driveways.  Eventually she came to a yard where there was a porcelain rabbit that the owners had placed on the curb.  She saw the rabbit, got a little nervous and came over to hold my hand for the remaining half block.  Evidently holding Papa’s hand gave her the confidence to face the intimidating, porcelain rabbit.

My psalm for the week is Psalm 142 and the fourth verse caught my attention today, “Look and see, there is no one at my right hand; no one is concerned for me.  I have no refuge; no one cares for my life.”  My Bible says David wrote these words when he was in the cave, probably hiding from Saul.  David was distraught because even though he was honoring Saul, God’s anointed king, he was still being hunted down like a criminal.  He felt as if there was no one on his side supporting him.  These words of David are a sharp contrast from the words penned by Asaph in Psalm 73:23-26, “Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.  You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.  Whom have I in heaven but you?  And earth has nothing I desire besides you.  My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”  It seems that Asaph didn’t care what circumstances he faced, including death, if God was holding his right hand supporting him.

Too often I walk through life buoyed up by the circumstances around me.  When I have good health, my job is going well, my marriage and my family relationships are healthy then I feel secure.  But when a porcelain rabbit rears its ugly head and my circumstances change so that my health is compromised, or I lose my job, or I have a fight with Jaci, or there is turmoil within the family, then I run to God and complain, like David, that if he really cared for me he wouldn’t allow those kinds of things to happen.

God’s wants me to walk hand-in-hand with him through life.  When I spend every day walking with him I am assured of his love and I learn to trust him to do what is right, much like Quinn trusted me to protect her.  Then my security does not rely on my circumstances but on the knowledge that God is with me, come what may, porcelain rabbits and all.