WE NEED COVERINGS IN ALL KINDS OF WEATHER

Rain and snow coverings can help keep our bodies dry, perhaps even protect us from ailments. But nothing compares to God’s covering of forgiveness and love that protects us from being eternally separated from Him—no matter what the weather.

ETERNAL PERSPECTIVES        by Sally Bair

Coverings

We northerners often need coverings, what with the amounts of rain and snow we receive. When it rains, if we’re smart we use an umbrella, hat or rain gear. When it snows, we get out the parka. Plants need coverings, too. In the fall we cover our flowerbeds and vegetable gardens with mulch or plastic.

We find other ways to protect ourselves and the things that are dear to us. Sometimes, however, we put a blanket on our raw emotions in an effort to avoid or hide them. How many times have we answered someone’s “How are you?” with a smile and a “Fine,” when we didn’t feel fine at all. We may have been crying on the inside because someone criticized us. We may have felt self-pity or loneliness when a friend or spouse neglected us. Perhaps we were sad because a loved one was ill or had died, or felt anxious and fearful about an encounter with someone who had threatened us.

Covering our bad feelings is common to most of us. We don’t like to expose our hurts and failures to others. Not that we should spew out our feelings of self-pity

and anger to everyone. It’s always good to address our feelings, problems or faults with those we love or with people of trustworthy counsel. But the problem with cover-ups is that they leave no chance for the problem to be solved. They also give others the wrong impression about us and, if we continue in the lie, we eventually tend to believe the lie ourselves.

God cannot work in our lives until we’re willing to remove our emotional blankets and expose our true selves to him. Like a shepherd who covers the raw wounds of

his sheep with oil, Jesus the Good Shepherd will bring healing to our body, soul and spirit through His powerful anointing. When we finally remove our coverings and replace them with His, then joy, peace and freedom will be ours forever.

“But you have an anointing from the Holy One…” 1 John 2:20

Lord, forgive us when we’ve covered our bad feelings and our sins, thus hindering You from giving us Your perfect covering. Give us the will and strength to remove

the inadequate coverings we hold onto. We want the healing balm of Your Spirit, which brings joy, peace and freedom. In Jesus’ name, amen.