Enfield Evangelical Free Church

"Aiming to glorify God by calling and equipping people to be fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ"

January 2008 - Pastor's Message
Security For The Apprehensive

As I sat down to write this article for Focus I received a Christmas greeting from friends visiting Australia. It included a picture of a Grandad walking down a road with his little grandson sitting securely on his shoulders. It reminded me of Deuteronomy 33:12. The people of Israel were about to enter the Promised Land, and Moses speaks words of encouragement to 11 of the 12 tribes of Israel. “About Benjamin he said “Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in Him, for He shields him all day long, and the one the LORD loves rests between His shoulders.”

At the start of a new year do you feel apprehensive about the journey ahead? Do you feel very little and weak compared to the size of all that God is calling you to be and to do and to endure? Do you feel exhausted by the pressures and struggles of 2007 and wonder how you will keep going in 2008? The little tribe of Benjamin may well have felt like that as they stood on the verge of the Promised Land. But through Moses, the LORD provides this lovely picture of Himself as a father carrying his small child on his shoulders. Through the Lord Jesus, all Christians are the beloved of the LORD; a love declared by our Saviour’s cross. The assurance given to the tribe of Benjamin is, therefore, an assurance for us too. Four things can be said about the way the LORD carries His children.

He carries them compassionately
As a Father has compassion on His children so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him, for He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust.  (Psalm 103:13-14) He carries us with compassion because He loves us. He knows when we are fearful, alarmed, apprehensive. 

He carries them gladly
When our children were little it was my great pleasure to carry them on my shoulders. Their dependence on me pleased me. There is nothing grudging or reluctant about the LORD’s carrying. He is pleased and delighted to carry us. Unlike a human father, His children never grow out of their need to be carried.

He carries them securely
" Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in Him, for He shields him all day long."
As He carries us God is our protector. He is the source of security when all around seems insecure. When I was child my Dad taught us a little rhyme – “Hold tight to Daddy, hold tight to Daddy, hold tight to Daddy, he’ll hold you very tight.”  A child on their father’s shoulders is secure. They hold tight, but they know that they are held tighter. The Lord Jesus, speaking of His people as His sheep, said "no-one can snatch them our of my Father’s hand." (John 10:29)

He carries them constantly
“Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in Him, for He shields him all day long,”
The LORD will never tire of carrying us. He will not grow tired or weary. He is the One who created the stars and the planets. By His great power not one of them is missing. Is He not, therefore, well able to carry us when we grow tired and weary, and stumble and fall? Nothing will be able to separate us from His protecting love. All day long we may face trials. All day long we may face temptations. All day long we may face opposition. But all day long we can rest secure in Him. He will carry us to our journey’s end: to the Father’s house and that place prepared for all His beloved.

None of us can know where the journey of the Christian life may take us in 2008, but if, through the Lord Jesus, we are the beloved of the LORD, we can rest secure in Him, as we rest between His shoulders.

Jonathan Prime - January 2008

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