How are you? How is your week going? Have you remembered that you are held securely by the hands of God?
There are many moments in my parenting on which I can look back and just shake my head. Some of those moments have come in the form of pranks that have gone too far.
One prank that comes to mind happened a couple months ago. I was meeting my family for lunch, so I was driving separately. After arriving slightly later than my family, I saw that my daughter was patiently and innocently waiting for her brother to come out of the van. Because I was out of her field of vision, I saw a perfect opportunity to scare her. I came up from behind, snatched her up, and started to run away without her knowing who it was that was taking her.
It didn’t matter that it was her dad. From her point of view, she thought she was grabbed by a stranger and separated from her family. She started to cry, and she was uneasy throughout our whole lunch together. The look of fear and terror on her face was priceless, and at the same time, it was truly heart-breaking.
There are times when we feel like we get snatched up. Maybe it feels like we are getting snatched up by our broken relationships or financial hardships. Maybe it’s the stresses of work or the anxieties of life. Maybe it’s the difficulty of facing illness or even death. Maybe it’s our own addictions and sins.
However, no matter how terrifying it may be, Jesus gave the assurance this past Sunday that no one and nothing can take us out of the hands of God. Even though we feel like we’re being picked up by a stranger, when we look at who is carrying us, we see that it is our heavenly Father. Not only that, our Savior is holding us too.
How is this possible? How can our suffering, our mortality, and even our sin never snatch us away? It’s because of the cross. Jesus through His death and resurrection has defeated every enemy. He has defeated Satan by disarming all his power. He has defeated death, the last enemy, by taking on our death. He has defeated our sin by bearing the wrath and judgment of God for us.
Through the cross, Jesus can guarantee us that no one can snatch us away. This is the assurance that we have, and that truth gives us the comfort and peace that are not found in this world and that last for eternity.
Take some time to rest in this truth this week and pray to your Good Shepherd who has you and will never let you go.
See you all on Sunday for Lord’s Day Worship. Let’s continue to pray for one another!
In Christ,
Pastor Tim
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