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Protected Under a Mighty Hand

April 25, 2019 by Lauren 20 Comments

Today, I want to introduce you to Connie Rowland from Master’s Hand Collection. Connie’s an artist who highlights sign language in her works of art. She always has hands, in particular, God’s hands on her mind. Her desire is for you to experience God’s hand in a personal way. Below is an excerpt from her new devotional 7 Simple Ways to See God’s Hand in Your Life. I’m sure you’ll find encouragement and inspiration as you begin to see God’s hand for yourself. Here’s what Connie has to say:

 

The burdens and worry of life are never far away. Concerns about family, work, health, etc., are a part of our everyday routine. They can sometimes consume our thoughts and actions, leaving us feeling beaten down, tired, and ready to give up. In this mind-frame, it can be hard to see God’s hand clearly.

Because that’s what we want most when life takes a turn for the worst. To see God’s hand in the middle of the mess and to know we are protected and safe.

This verse is one you might be familiar with. It is quoted often in church or at Bible study. But I’d like for us to take a closer look…

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.                                                             1 Peter 5:6-7

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It sounds so simple, doesn’t it? Just cast all your cares on God and let Him handle them. But, in reality, it’s a difficult thing to do.

Of course, we want to cast our cares on God and know He has them under control. We want to do the right thing and take our worry, regret, and pain to Him.

The problem is, most of us are pretty good at taking them back faster than we left them in the first place. I know from personal experience.

We needlessly carry the worries on our own shoulders instead of leaving them in God’s capable hands.

But we don’t have to continue this crazy game of backsies. We can stop taking our cares back from God and receive the relief He promises.

How?

This verse from 1 Peter offers three easy steps to receiving the benefit of being Protected Under a Mighty Hand. So, let’s dive in…

 

The first step is, to humble ourselves.

Humility goes against everything society believes. They tell us we don’t need anyone; we can do it on our own. They teach us to have a can-do attitude and that our own power will get us where we need to go. They say humility is a bad thing. It will make us weak in other people’s eyes and it will put us lower on the totem pole.

But God doesn’t ask us to humble ourselves to make us feel weak or small. He knows that true wisdom comes from humility.

We are frail and flawed by God’s design. We are created to need Him!

And the only way for us to see the protection of His mighty hand is to humble ourselves and kneel before Him. It’s an act of total surrender and dependence on God. Instead of taking care of ourselves like the world tells us to, we put our lives, our worries, all of it, completely in God’s care. And once we are on our knees, we’ll be in the perfect place to crawl under His mighty hand.

 

The next step, casting our cares upon Him, is not something we do once, and it’s done. It’s a continual process of taking our burdens to God each day and seeking His wise and generous counsel in every problem we face.

God cares for us! He is concerned about every aspect of our lives. We are important to Him. And no matter how long our list of worries becomes, God’s mighty hand is big enough to hold them all! That’s amazing!

So, take your cares to God and receive His wisdom, mercy, and protection.

 

And the last step is to wait for Him to exalt us in due time.

God doesn’t leave us to face our burdens alone. His hand shows us great compassion through hardship and grief. It delivers us from the troubles and worries that threaten to overtake us. And God’s hand lifts us up and exalts us in His perfect time.

 

Under the mighty hand of God… that’s a wonderful place to be. Protected by the most powerful hand in the universe. Comforted and cared for by God’s grace. Carried through the burdens of life.

That’s where I want to be. How about you?

Are you ready to be protected under God’s mighty hand? Are you willing to humble yourself before Almighty God? Will you take your cares to Him and be exalted in due time? I pray that you will… because Protected Under a Mighty Hand is the best place to be!

 

Connie Rowland is the artist behind Master’s Hand Collection. Her art represents God’s hand in our lives by featuring American Sign Language. Each piece is lovingly created to encourage you in your walk with Jesus and to spread the gospel to those who don’t know Him yet.

Want to know more about God’s Hand? Claim your FREE copy of her newest devotional 7 Simple Ways to See God’s Hand in Your Life.  And you can use the same link to view and purchase Connie’s inspiring artwork.

Sharing is caring! If you liked this post, please share to your favorite social media accounts. And if you want to make sure you don’t miss anything, subscribe!

And look up these great writers I link up with every week:

Mix it Up Linky, InstaEncouragements, Literacy Musing Mondays, Hello…Monday,

Dream Team link up, The Good. The Random. The Fun.

BloggerClubUK, Tea and Word Tuesday, Purposeful Faith,

GraceFull Tuesday Link-Up, Different Dream,

Let’s Have Coffee, Welcome Wednesday, Recharge Wednesday,

Worth Beyond Rubies, #TellHisStory Link Up, Porch Stories,

Encouraging Word Wednesday, Tune In Thursday,

Stories of Hope, Moments of Hope, IHeart Verse Link Party,

A Blogging Good Time, Fresh Market Friday, Feature Friday Time,

Friendship Friday Blog Hop, Faith on Fire, Traffic Jam Weekend,

Faith ‘n Friends, Dancing with Jesus, Grace & Truth, Booknificent

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For the Love of a Cow

January 4, 2019 by Lauren 31 Comments

We flew to California for one day passes to Disneyland.  We had to.  We were on a mission to get my special girl Shelby to see a life-sized Clarabelle Cow.  At lease that’s what we thought we were doing.

 

To back up, our 18 year old daughter has the mental and emotional intelligence of a toddler.  And my first born baby is obsessed with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  Some of you got to outgrow that phase with your children.  We probably never will.  It can be annoying at times, but it brings her so much joy that I can’t help but enjoy it too.  Because Shelby struggles to communicate, I might never have known that Clarabelle, a minor character in the show, was her favorite.  But we got her a Mickey Mouse book, and she kept it turned to a picture of the singing cow all the time.  She was only ever interested in looking at that page and talking about her.  Once we found a Clarabelle stuffed animal on ebay (for entirely too much money) and presented it to Shelby, we knew FOR SURE that the cow is her favorite.

 

Stuffed Clarabelle is now Shelby’s almost constant companion.  That 15 inch toy only leaves her hand under duress.  Bath time, meal time, school and therapy.  When our daughter went away to summer camp for a week with the Epilepsy Foundation of Texas, we told her counselors that they would have to pry Clarabelle out of Shelby’s unwilling hands for activities and that Shelby would tell them she was sad.  We assured them this was necessary and that Shelby would rebound quickly when her beloved was out of sight.  Those tender-hearted counselors must not have been able to deal with anyone being sad at summer camp.  Every picture of Shelby they posted on social media that week included her doll.  Clarabelle went to the mess hall, rode horses, kayaked, did arts and crafts and swam in the pool.  She was a sad and tired mess after 6 days.  And Shelby was exhausted too.  The love of the cow runs deep.

 

When we got to Disneyland the Saturday of Columbus Day weekend (they set an attendance record – wouldn’t recommend going then), we trucked it to the guest services desk post haste to find out when and where Clarabelle would be appearing.  The answer stunk.  She would not be present in the park that day.  Now we knew when we started planning this trip that there were no Clarabelle guarantees, but I confess that I bummed hard.  For the love, we made a cross country trip.  *Sigh*  Anyway, our next hope was Clarabelle’s Creamery – a popular ice cream parlor.  We imagined her image adorning the walls and memorabilia for sale in the gift shop.  No such luck.  There was not a picture of Shelby’s best friend, or any other cow in the whole place much less a t-shirt or keychain for sale.  All of this prompted my husband to caption his social media photos with

#Disney #fortheloveofacow

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With all of our musical cow dreams dashed to bits, we got about the rest of our day enjoying the park.  And did Shelby enjoy the park!  We discovered that our meek and gentle girl LOVES the speed, thrills and potential spills of roller coasters!  She rode rails that would make this mama mess her britches and whooped and hollered the entire time.  Smiles and giggles ALL DAY LONG.  Turns out that Chuck and I were the only ones disappointed.  Shelby had no expectation of seeing a bigger than life Clarabelle.  Her mind can’t even fathom the possibility.  She was as happy as I’ve ever seen her just hanging out with her people, and making some death defying turns – at least that’s how it appeared to this scaredy chicken.

 

In retrospect, I think the coaster-love was God’s sweet little surprise for us.  We made plans for what we thought would delight Shelby, but God knew what would do the trick.  In a silly and whimsical way, Space Mountain illustrates Proverbs 19:21.  “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”  We most often use this verse to remind us that God knows what’s best for us, which is absolutely true.  But I think it also points to our God’s propensity to surprise us.  He loves us so much that He delights in our delight.  As much as the sound of Shelby’s laughter brings me joy, my love for her is dwarfed by our Heavenly Father’s pleasure in us.

 

“Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.”  Isaiah 30:18

 

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About Me

I love Jesus, my husband and caffeine. The order of these can change depending on how tired I am. When my two daughters, stepson, and 4 grandchildren get to be too much, I practice yoga. God graciously allows me to share our adventures, victories and flub-ups from my laptop. May He be glorified here.
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