"If I ride the wings of morning, if I dwell by the furthest oceans, even there
Your hand will guide me and Your strength will support me." ~Psalm 139:9-10
You’ve probably heard the phrase, “going down a rabbit trail.” Wild rabbits don’t like to saunter down Main Street; they prefer bolting down trails leading deep into the woods. To go down a “rabbit trail,” then, means to get off the main road, to be detoured, distracted, or diverted from your goals and plans.
Did you ever see the classic movie, It’s A Wonderful Life? George Bailey, as played by Jimmy Stewart, was a young man with big dreams. He was going to travel the world, go to college and become an engineer. But his father’s sudden death and the threat of an evil tycoon to shut down the family’s building and loan company forced him to stay in his hometown. There he settled down, married, and had children. The climax of the movie comes when George’s half-witted uncle loses a wad of deposit money and the bank examiner sends the sheriff to arrest George. George Bailey had tramped down a rabbit trail that led him to despair and darkness – until that fateful night when he prayed and God sent an angel named Clarence.
God is with us on the rabbit trails of life, and he stands at the end of the trail when we’ve exhausted our human options and we need more than fleshly wisdom. In our trials He sends angels to us—and sometimes even crows.
Three years ago, I went down my own torturous rabbit trail. My mother died after a long battle with a genetic liver disease, and in the couple of years previous to that we had lost both of my in-laws, a couple of uncles a cousin and a brother in law. I sought counseling and therapy, trying to get my heart mended. During my counseling, I met a lot of people like me, battered from the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, and we talked, and prayed, and got real. Eventually we all regained our spirit and strength, and finally got out. I realized that God had sat down with me at the end of that rabbit trail, squatted beside me in the dust and dryness of my life. He had touched me and fed me, and he had used me to reach out to other hurting souls. You know, ministry doesn’t always take place within church walls.
“To be commanded to love God at all, let alone in the wilderness, is like being commanded to be well when we are sick, to sing for joy when we are dying of thirst, to run when our legs are broken. But this is the first and great commandment nonetheless. Even in the wilderness – especially in the wilderness – you shall love him.” –Frederick Buechner
What about you?
Has your rabbit trail ended in the wilderness, your detour taken you into a wasteland?
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Your challenge this week is to use this scripture or another verse to create a project that reminds you that God is waiting and will always be with you. When uploading your project, please use keyword ODBDBVT92 and then hop over to Our Daily Bread Designs Forum and share it with us!
Blessings,
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