Wearing down

It's been a hard week, very tiring. To paraphrase Bilbo Baggins, I feel like butter that's been spread too thin on a piece of toast. The teens within my ministry are awakening to new insights in the Bible, exciting them to take great leaps forward for Christ. Yet I am TIRED. I've been facing problems that try to take away my joy. My prayers lately seem to be more crying and asking than thanking and applauding.

God is all around me but I fall into the problem of fogetting that holy fact.

How stupid of me!

The devotional ministry Our Daily Bread ran this story that tells me a clear story of a father’s unnoticed protection:
“The early American Indians had a unique practice of training young braves. On the night of a boy's thirteenth birthday, after learning hunting, scouting, and fishing skills, he was put to one final test. He was placed in a dense forest to spend the entire night alone. Until then, he had never been away from the security of the family and the tribe. But on this night, he was blindfolded and taken several miles away. When he took off the blindfold, he was in the middle of a thick woods and he was terrified! Every time a twig snapped, he visualized a wild animal ready to pounce. After what seemed like an eternity, dawn broke and the first rays of sunlight entered the interior of the forest. Looking around, the boy saw flowers, trees, and the outline of the path. Then, to his utter astonishment, he beheld the figure of a man standing just a few feet away, armed with a bow and arrow. It was his father. He had been there all night long.”

Much like the unseen but protective father, my Heavenly Lord may not be noticed by me many times... but He is there, watching and protecting. It is to my shame that I don’t give Him more credit for the shielding He provides for me, in events big and small.