
I’m a mum of six pretty amazing children who I am fiercely protective of and I not afraid to go into battle for if the need arises. Our older kids now joke that you better not poke the “Mumma Bear” because she’s gonna come out fighting. They know I will be there if they need me. Even though they joke and tease me they’ve also grown up knowing I have their backs.
However as they’ve grown and travelled through each development stage I have had to make myself progressively step back from being the “Mumma Bear” and allow them to do things for themselves instead. It’s started early when they were babies and first learnt to take their first steps. I had to let them do it alone otherwise they would just want to be carried everywhere and would never develop the muscles and strength needed to walk or run alone. This principle I’ve discovered translates over into every area of life as we all need to experience, learn and be free to make mistakes to develop as God planned.
There have been many times when I have to stand back and allow my kids or those I lead the space to make mistakes and to learn from their experiences as they grow. Otherwise we can risk missing a development stage and being hampered by immaturity in an area of our lives. The key I’ve found in being “Mumma Bear” and not a hovering, annoying parent or leader is to ask God for the wisdom and trust in Him to know when to hold people, when to step back and when to reach out and catch them before they crash and damage themselves or others permanently.
God is much the same. He is the ultimate “Papa Bear” and will go in hard core to protect His kids. He does not like it when we are messed with, hurt or damaged in any way. You just have to look in the bible to see that He will do whatever He needs to do to fulfil His promises to those who love and follow Him. He will part the waters, break down walls, obliterate enemy armies, make the sun stand still, quiet the storm, turn water into wine, raise the dead, heal the sick and restore people’s lives in whatever way is required. Whatever He needs to do, He will do it to care for and to fulfil His Word to those who believe.
However He also wants our lives to be fruitful and knows that at times that means pruning unhelpful aspects out of our lives, us confronting issues, removing hindrances, allowing us to go to hard places to refine us, as well as sending people to love and support us and reminding us of the big picture and what He has called us to be. Just look at the life of Joseph who spent time down a well and in prison for 14 years before he was promoted to the second most powerful person in the land. Or Abraham, Moses and David who all wandered around for years in the wilderness as God refined them before they saw His promises come to pass. (Genesis 12; Exodus; 1 Samuel 23:14-29)
Just as I will go to the utmost to protect and bless my kids, God promises He will protect and always be there for us. Where there are times I must clench my hands in my lap, grit my teeth to say nothing and go to prayer instead of getting involved, God will also allow us to go to the uncomfortable spaces and cause us to have to stand up and find out what we are made of even if it feels like we are alone, because He is aware of what we need to develop into all that we were made to be. All the time however, just as I am at the ready as “Mumma Bear,” He is ready to catch and rescue us if we are overwhelmed or in danger.
Today as we take the time to celebrate the Easter weekend know that God has your back and will always be there for you, even to the point of Jesus dying for you so that you would be protected, rescued from evil and to enable you to have a hope and a future. He says we will have things we have to travel through, but to not be afraid because He is alongside us and always has good things planned for us everyday. Knowing that you can rest assured in His love and go out and enjoy all that He has given you this Easter weekend.
“So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture….
None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us”. (Romans 8:31-39 The Message)
“When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you. When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down. When you’re between a rock and a hard place, it won’t be a dead end— Because I am God, your personal God.”(Isaiah 43:1-3 The Message)
Prayer: Lord thank you that you always have my back and will do whatever you need to do to fulfil your word to me. Please help me to remember when I am facing difficulties or challenges that you are with me and are at working in me to help me to become the person you have created me to be. In Jesus name Amen.
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