"Jesus loves me, this I know..."
He's getting way too big to be curled up in my arms in this rocking chair, where we have sat every night since I brought him home from the hospital 3 years ago. Bath, pjs, books, song...every night (ok, almost every night on the bath- he is my third child!)
"For the Bible tells me so..."
She's already 7, nearly 8. When she was a baby I would sing her this song twice through every nap and every bedtime per her instructions. I remember calculating how many times I had sung the song in 1 year- 4 times a day, 28 times a week, 112 times a month, 1,456 times a year. We do crazy things for our kids!
"Little ones to Him belong..."
Don't let it become a habit, my husband said, worried that my daughter would not learn to sleep on her own as a baby. She was just such a snuggle bug! Now I crawl into her bed, because she's had a nightmare. Sleeping head to toe, she practically shoves her feet up my nose. But still I coo the song. Does that make you feel better love?
"They are weak but He is STRONG."
Every one of my children would emphasize the word STRONG when they sing it, making muscles and declaring it loudly.
My Bible study lesson today encouraged it's readers to sing the first song that came to mind in praise to God. I thought it was silly that Jesus Loves Me was the one that popped into my head, but sang it's sweet childlike words out loud. When I came to the words, "they are weak but He is strong" I caught my breathe. I am weak, but you are strong God. In all of this, we are weak, but you are strong!
I am so thankful today that God is where my hope and trust is. A few verses of the Bible seem quite appropriate for our current situation where schools, businesses, and entertainment are closed, childcare is hard to find, jobs are on the line, and a global pandemic has come to our backyard.
Even though the fig trees have no blossoms,
and there are no grapes on the vines;
even though the olive crop fails,
and the fields lie empty and barren;
even though the flocks die in the fields
and the cattle barns are empty.
Yet I will rejoice in the lord!
I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
The Sovereign Lord is my strength!
He makes me as surefooted as a deer able to tread upon the heights.
Habakkuk 3:17-19
Do you have that kind of hope? That when everything is in chaos, you can be thankful for your relationship with God who gives you strength and peace? That no matter what happens you can trust his plans are good because he is sovereign or in control of everything? He stands waiting for you. You just have to ask Him. Pray today. He will answer in love. Then you too will be able to declare that we are weak, but He is STRONG no matter what the weeks and months ahead look like!
