Under His Umbrella

I have thought about this for a few days and have still hesitated before actually writing this. Mainly because I don't want to come across as sounding all preachy. I fear that the recent storms in Alabama, rising gas prices, and other world events will make this seem hard to believe, but hang with me. I definitely do not want to diminish the fact that these events can rock someone's faith.  I feel that we are living in interesting times and if not now, when? So....here goes.

One of the things I struggle with a lot is when bad things happen to "good people" and others wonder how can God "let" this happen. If God can control the weather, why doesn't He? What if it's not physical storms, but events that are happening in our lives that feel like storms? 

Maybe we want protection....but not restraint.  Boundaries but we don't want to feel caged in. What if sometimes we don't realize how bad things COULD have been?

I started to think about umbrellas.  They help keep us dry. The wind may whip below the umbrella and even turn it inside out. We pull them out when we fear the weather will be bad.  However when things are looking sunny we keep them put away somewhere....until the next time it rains.  My prayer life is kind of like that.  When things are going well, sentence prayers seem to fill the need.  BUT when life gets stormy?  Out come my umbrella prayers.  My leave the radio off when I'm driving, really talk to God prayers. 

I'm thinking that even though we have our little umbrella of protection God provides an even bigger umbrella over us.  An umbrella of protection and boundaries.  An umbrella that sometimes we think blocks the sun and we ask God to let us just step out from the umbrella for a little while.  And He lets us.  Because He loves us enough to still give us that choice.  We wander out into the sun.  We enjoy the warmth and the brightness.  But then it gets TOO hot or the horizon starts looking a little dark.  The storms are back and we rush back under His umbrella.  It was never put away.  It is there when we need it and there when we think we don't need it.

When we're under the umbrella, we don't always see what is going on overhead or around us.  We may not even realize that we need protection every day in every weather because weather changes quickly. God loves us too much to leave us unprotected.

It's raining even if right now it's just a drizzle. There's room under His umbrella.

Psalm 140:4 Keep me safe, LORD, from the hands of the wicked; protect me from the violent, who devise ways to trip my feet.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” - Philippians 4:6-7