devotional for Sunday, 10/16/11
Have you ever picked up a child who does not want to be held? They may struggle and scream, kick, or even bite. Or they may just cry and go limp. I volunteer at a therapeutic horseback riding center for special needs children. Yesterday, we had one student who the past 2 weeks got onto a horse with no problem whatsoever. His brother also rides in the program at the same time. But something was amiss yesterday. This young boy would not get on the pony that was patiently waiting for him that day. He threw himself to the ground and would not get up. Even his father came over and tried to get him up and make him walk, but he just went as limp as a wet cloth, dragging his feet through the dry dusty earth, turning the tears on his cheeks into streaks of mud. Three of us tried everything we could think of to encourage and entice him to get up and join his brother in the arena. Even his brother tried to show him how much fun he was having on his horse and begged his younger brother to join in the fun on the pony, to no avail. We never did figure out why this child was so upset and would not get up, because he could not express himself clearly.
We often do this to God. We may have huge problems here on earth. God wants to help us and carry us in his arms through the difficulties. But sometimes we are so busy trying to fight our way through, to solve our own problems, that we struggle right out of God's arms, rejecting his help. Luckily, our God is strong and persistent! He is always right there, picking us up again. And even when we cannot express to him what we want, he already knows what we really need, and his Spirit prays for us.
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. Romans 8:26-27 NIV
We are all probably familiar with the story of the footprints in the sand. There is a variation on that called butt prints in the sand, where God gets fed up and drops us on our butt in the sand. But that is not how God works; he never gives up on us. However, sometimes God has to drag us on our butts kicking and screaming through to the other side. If only we could just stop struggling and put it all back in God's hands!
written by Jan Andersen (with sand in her shorts!)
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