Thursday, January 17, 2008

Beat up?

18 comments
 
“A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he leads justice to victory” (Matthew 12:20).

Have you ever seen the show Survivor Man? This is a show on the discovery channel where “survivor man” goes out and tapes his survival of the elements of different locations around the world. He researches the areas and then goes out to try to survive them. Fire is a vital item needed for survival in these situations. It is interesting to watch the great care that goes into bringing forth fire. Survivor man starts the fire with just a spark that produces some smoke. He is very tender and gentle with this small spark and smoke. He puts his hand on it and gently blows on it to fan it into a bigger flame. Little by little it starts to grow and as it grows brighter and brighter the less he needs to do with it.

This paints a good picture of God handling us. When we are small and weak giving off just a little spark and/or perhaps only blowing off a little smoke, God takes that little bit and keeps His hands on us. He is very careful and makes certain that small spark does not snuff out. He is very near because He is near the broken hearted. He is very gentle. I can see Him gently blowing His breath on that tiny spark filling it with His breath of life until it reaches a brightness that allows Him to back away some. He does not have to stay as near because the condition of the flame is not as fragile. As He is always present, He takes most gentle care of us when we are broken and weak.

The same is with the reed. When it is bruised it is in great danger of breaking. I love the gentle and humble manner of Jesus. It is Jesus who takes us in His gentle hands and makes sure we do not break. There are times that life will get hard. That is a fact. But the other fact to remember is that Jesus is whose hands we are in. He will never leave us for forsake us and He will restore us gently. Let His breath breathe on you and fan your flame even brighter.

Father, thank You for never extinguishing our flame. Thank You for being near to the broken-hearted. We praise You for Your gentle loving kindness. It is so hard to understand but we accept it. Lord breathe Your life into us so we can live and move and breathe in You. Fan the flames of our hearts so they shine brightly for You. In Jesus Name. Amen.

18 comments:

Kara Akins said...

Beautiful post, Angela. It touches my heart on many levels. I love you, sister - and that is what you are in Christ.

Anonymous said...

That is such a beautiful post. It gave me goose bumps as I was reading it. The words and thoughts are so beautiful, so real, and so true. Thank you for sharing!

ocean mommy said...

Just beautiful! I'm going to read it again!

Love you!
steph.

LAUREN at Faith Fuel said...

That's oe of my favorite verses- A bruised reed He will not break.

I love your heart, Angela.

Anonymous said...

Great article, Angela. You are a blessing to me.

Kelli

Heidi said...

WOW... There are goosebumps on my arms too. God is so good and so awesome. This post was absolutely beautiful, you better enter it!!!

Susan Skitt said...

What a nice picture of our tender Lord sustaing and caring for his children :)

inspired said...

\o/\O/\o/

Celly B said...

What a beautiful analogy! Thanks for sharing.

Heather said...

Gently blowing on our little flame to make it grow - what imagery! Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

I am visiting here from Lysa's blog. You are a great writer! I have entered the contest also. Isn't it good that we have been given this opportunity?!
I loved your post. It was beautiful. I am bookmarking your site to visit again! I would love to have you visit my blog.
http://www.freewebs.com/books-go-round
Blessings,
Starr

Anonymous said...

Love the descriptive and meanful writing. I love Survivor Man and I love the imagery with the fire and our relationship with God.

Sandy said...

Powerful post, being held in the palm of His hand and gently being coaxed to life!

Blessings,
Miss Sandy

Bev Brandon @ The Fray said...

This verse has meant a lot to me. Enjoyed reading your post, Angela.

Jane (a.k.a. patjrsmom) said...

Thank you for visiting my blog and for your kind words. I have been so incredibly blessed by the women who are participating in the P31 writing contest--women full of faith and conviction--sharing their stories with each other!

God Bless,
Jane

Carol said...

Angela, this is beautiful. I love the illustration.

Madi said...

Hi Mrs.Angela!I love that post!Keep up the good work!P.S.I started a blog.

Anonymous said...

Stumbled across your blog. Very good. Mine is named smoldwick, you can check it out if you like. I am a smoldering wick of sorts.

 
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