God's Care

Revelation 12:1-6 -  A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.  She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth.  Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads.  His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born.  She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.  The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.

I admit it…I was distracted while I was reading last night.  The private patio table and chairs was just too tempting….and with bible in hand I attempted to read one of the most confusing chapters of Revelation yet….while the sun made it’s daily disappearance from the sky. As I read about this ‘woman clothed in the sun’ …I watched the sun turn from its normal ball of yellow fire…to a fiery ball of the deepest orange….somehow managing to color the edge of the horizon a bright red. The show continued for an hour…brilliant color…so intense you could not stare at it very long.  It was soothing…even comforting to watch such a display of God’s artistic ability….his sunset is one of my favorite things about our world. The intensity of the red faded into a soft pink….and the moon took over the job of reflecting the light of the sun…like a giant round mirror.

But the passage I read…and the commentaries I tried to find meaning in…that was just confusing. Some believe this woman was the literal Mary….mother of Jesus….others said it was the nation of Israel…some even said that the woman was the current church.  They all had scripture to back up their belief…and I could see the points they were all making…but I would need hours more study to actually look up all those scriptures and try to decide for myself which one was right. Then the sunset distracted me once again…and verse 6 got stuck in my brain. I found myself fleeing from this confusing passage and just thinking about how God has prepared a place for all of us who believe…where he will comfort us and take care of us…no matter what the symbolism or literal meaning of these verses mean.

What a great promise…it let me know that sunset I got to see last night…it was not an accident.  My school sent me to do some special training for my language arts classes I teach…and God set me up in one of the nicest motel rooms I have ever slept in...complete with a private balcony to view his wonderful  artwork at dusk.  It is a reminder to me that the sun does that every night….without fail…and God’s promise to care for us is forever too. He prepared a place for each of us….here on the Earth…to nourish us and teach us….so we can worship him and declare that he has won the victory over Satan.  God is so amazing that way! He wants us to be so comfortable in him that we begin to share his love with others as consistently as that sun sets in the sky...just because it was the way he wanted it…with no exceptions.

Father…I thank you for the loving care you give to me each day…and I am sorry for not appreciating it like I should.  Thank you for the reminder that you care so much for me that you will prepare a place for me to be nourished….to learn as much as I can about you…no matter where I am asked to go. Help me father grow so much in your love and knowledge that I can worship you more completely…make my relationship with you more meaningful….so I too will be protected from Satan’s schemes to trick me into thinking that the world has anything better than what you have already given me. And God…help me not to be so confused by other’s opinions next time I read…I know this book you gave to John has a special meaning…and will be clear…when you decide I need to know. Amen.