In the midst of a series of
trials, tribulations, and losses, I came upon a couple of sheets of bubble
wrap, protection around a present from my husband lovingly meant to cheer me
up.
I stood in the kitchen that fall morning squeezing the bubbles
between my fingers, as I love to do, until they popped. This time the explosion of the small balloons
did nothing to better my mood which continued to dwell on all the losses,
complications, and regrets in my life.
Then finally, finally I saw my heavenly Father in all that was going on
around me, in the sorrow, the fear, in the noise of the bursting bubbles. I saw how he longs to be our protection, our
provider and how he must sit back and watch as we build our own protection
around ourselves.
We've wrapped ourselves up in bubble wrap. We've gathered all of our security around us
in the form of our jobs, our homes, our health, our families. We pile it on as deep as we can. Even our positions in the church become
symbols of security to us. The more we
do, the safer we will be. Our protective
layer just gets to a comfortable stage, then...God begins to burst all of our
bubbles. The trials and losses
come. They explode all around us and yet
we try to hang on. We've invested so
much in this wrapping around us that we continue to look to bubbles of air for
protection. Fortunately, God will continue to burst those bubbles until
we see them for what they are, just hollow air, and begin to trust Him for our
protection.
I've thought a lot about when David transferred the Ark of the Covenant from Kirjath-jearim to Jerusalem. Why did the Lord kill Uzza when he put his hand out and touched the ark while Obed-Edom was blessed when they left the ark at his house for three months? Had the Israelites made a god out of the ark, had they begun trusting in it for their security instead of in the true God of Israel? Had Uzza put a hand out waiting for the ark to catch and support him? Did Obed-Edom recognize that the ark was not a god but merely the symbol for the true God? Did he fear the Lord and not the ark during those months that the ark sat in his yard? And did the Lord let the ark stay there until the children of Israel remembered again who the true God was?
When the ark was finally brought to Jerusalem, David sang
danced and worshipped not the ark, but the Lord. Included in his song in 1 Chronicles 16, were
these words:
"For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. He is also to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the people are
idols: But the Lord made the
heavens. Glory and honor are in His
presence: Strength and gladness are in
His place."
Lord, help us to let go of all the security we wrap around
ourselves. Even when it is good, it is
merely bubble wrap. Give us hearts that
trust solely in you for our security.
