Defenders

I'm feeling just a wee bit of pressure to write something fantastic and profound (or even fantastically profound) for what will most likely be the last entry here for 2010.  But evening is fast approaching and I have a DVD or two to enjoy as I'm on a bit of a holiday until Wednesday and a husband I would like to try to sell on the idea of allowing me a Birthday Eve which would allow me to open my gifts from him early so . . . yeah.  Fantastic and profound will just have to wait until 2011. 

Though I did have an interesting thought/memory last night as I was drifting off to sleep.  I couldn't even tell you what started this particular train of thought, but I was remembering a day from my elementary school years.  It was recess and I had just been unceremoniously informed by some friends I was no longer a member of a club we had formed.  The reasons given have been fuzzed out by time, but I do recall standing in one corner of the playground by the chain link fence feeling very sad and alone and not acceptable.  Unbeknown to me initially, my older sister -- who at that time was at the school which was literally across the street -- saw me and came over to see what was the matter.  I tearfully filled her in and she came to my defense, telling the girls they were being mean.  Or something like that.  Like I said, the memory is fuzzy and I may have added in bits and pieces.  But what mattered, what I still remember, is this:

1.  I was, for all intents and purposes, deemed unacceptable as a member of a club to which my friends belonged.
2.  My older sister stuck up for me.  She let it be known, in her own way, I was acceptable.

And last night I realized God is like my big sister was in that moment.  He is my defender.  He is the One who sticks up for me when no one else (myself included) will, when all are busily pointing out my many faults and shortcomings, sins and failures.  It's not that God doesn't know I mess things up.  It's not that He glosses over my sins.  But He doesn't look at me through that particular lens. As He did with Gideon (Judges 6: 11-16), God sees me with all of the potential, with all of the abundance and fullness and goodness promised in Jeremiah 29: 11-13 (Message):

I know what I'm doing.  I have it all planned out -- plans to take care of you,

not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.

When you call on me, when  you come and pray to me, I'll listen.

When you come looking for me, you'll find me.

God never abandons us.  He doesn't tell us we're no longer a part of His plan.  We can choose to walk away from Him and that plan, but like the prodigal son discovered (Luke 15: 11-32), when we admit the wrong we've done and ask for His forgiveness, it's given.  And that is something I'll gladly carry with me out of 2010 and into 2011.

I hope you are all able to ring out 2010 and ring in 2011 with people you love.  Thank you for reading!