Under His wings

Something made me get out of bed at 4:30 this morning...probably the knowledge that my poor hubby was heading out to face the below zero temps for the day. He spends about half his day inside the heated cab of a semi truck, but with 4 loads today, he will spend 8 hours outside loading/unloading....brrrrrr. I COULD NEVER do his job, I am so thankful that he works so hard to provide for us.

Anyway, so there I was at 4:30 am about to turn on the tv and settle in by the pre lit tree (which is re-lit now) with a cup of minty tea when something made me dig out my Beth Moore study book. All I can say to anyone participating in the study is get it out and do day one today....don't argue about how many presents you have to wrap or cookies you have to bake, just get it out and do it.

If you are going to do day 1 soon, stop reading now. On week 5, after much "laying of the groundwork" which Beth Moore so loves to do, we go beyond the curtain to the sanctuary. We've studied every detail, the materials used to build the tabernacle and the rules the builders had to follow. Finally, we get inside, it will be worth the wait!

I hate to tell you ladies but we have to draw the tabernacle again. I almost had to wake my kids up to help me figure the dimensions. There are all sorts of equations in the margin of my book while I tried to remember how to multiply fractions and stuff. Finally, I got it on my own wooo hoooo!

We learn about the curtains of the tabernacle and how the materials they are made with represent sacrifice and royalty. The top covering of the tabernacle is woven of fine linen, with the colors; blue, scarlet and purple. Exodus 26:1 then tells that cherubim was also woven into the fine linen for the ceiling in part to symbolize the heavenly hosts that surround the throne of God.

We then read from the Psalms, verses that talk about God hiding us in the shadow of his wings.

"He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge" Ps 91:4

As I read a friend's blog this morning about her struggles with health issues, and as I watch the homeless gather in warming centers to beat the sub zero temps on the news this morning, and as I think about a couple I know who struggle with drug addiction and had their baby taken away by social services last week, I praise God that I live under the feathers of his wings. I praise Him for protecting me and my family, and for providing for us. The knowledge that he loves us enough to save us through the sacrifice of his own son blows me away.

Our study for day one ends with:

"Learn to experience the warmth and protection of life beneath the wings of the almighty."

I haven't been spending much time lately under God's wings, reading and studying his word. When I stray away from Him, I start back on the path of thinking that I have to do everything myself. Why am I like that? I sometimes think I need to not only be a superhero for my family, but that somehow I think I should be able to save the world too. Today, I will bask in the knowledge that God has my back. I am covered and protected, I am safe and provided for, the hairs on my head are numbered, God cares for me. Praise Him!