THE APPLE OF HIS EYE

First of all, I want to assure you, "You're not alone!" 

Is it possible that you are going through something right now that leaves you feeling helpless, afraid or...maybe even that recurring feeling of being alone. I understand because I have been there and know how it feels to like a sheep stuck in the briers just waiting to be freed or like a one of those horses that ends up on youtube or TV that had to be rescued from some hole or waterway. Yes, it can be embarrassing and it it's against our pride to ask for help sometimes. The one thing I can assure you of is that the Lord is waiting for our cry for help. It's not that He doesn't know what is going on so we have to tell Him, but instead it is more like a learning process where we are growing more dependent on Him and believe me, that is exactly what He wants. Even the fearless David, who slew the bear, wrote, "Keep me as the apple of your eye, hide me under the shadow of your wings" in Psalm 17:8. He knew where his comfort and protection originated. David knew to pray in his time of crisis and he did in the form of song.

My daughter has a horse and she picked this one out of all the horses we looked at because he has a spirit that matched hers and she really got excited when she rode him for the first time. I'll never forget as he tried her by attempting to go where he wanted and swinging his head up and down as he moved in an attempt to make her uncomfortable. Why would he do all of this to such an experienced rider, I thought as I watched. The truth was that he hadn't been ridden much and the people who had him were afraid to ride him. I was quite proud of my daughter as she stayed on and he began to calm down, but she found out that all she had to do was give him a little bump in the ribs and he would fly! That's when I saw that she had met her match.

About a month later, as she was getting into the saddle to ride, he began bucking and threw her about 7 feet through the air and onto the ground. She called me so upset that I couldn't understand a word. All I knew was something really bad had happened and I was almost 30 minutes away. Well, I sped back to the pasture in about 15 minutes and found her limping and bruised. I felt so bad for leaving her their with another girl to ride. It was the first time I had allowed her to ride without my presence and then this happened. I felt so bad for not recognizing in advance the danger that my precious child had encountered. She told me later that she agreed to ride with the other girl because I had told her it would be alright. It was then that I realized just how much she depended on my word and my protection from dangers and potential harm.

Since that day I have always been there with her when she rode. As a matter of fact, I made arrangements to put up a fence around the field beside our house. Thanking God for this each day as we look out the window in the morning to see our spirited horse standing there waiting for some attention.
As my daughter has become more familiar with his ways and comfortable riding him, I have begun to go into the house to make dinner while she rides him around the field in the evenings. There is something that I thought she knew, but she said that she had not noticed. I told her recently, "You know when I go inside that I am constantly looking out the window to see that you are still riding and you are alright, don't you?" and she said, "No". I assumed that she could see me stopping in the window to check on her because I saw her look at the house as she passed the opening between the barns. I believe she was looking for me to come back out, but she couldn't see me standing in the window while getting something ready for us to eat.

As I thought about that, I realized that we often see our needs and our troubles as our own and until we tell God all about them, He is not aware of the things we are experiencing. I can assure you that God will never mistakenly leave you in harms way as I did that awful day that my daughter was thrown. David even says that the horses great strength doesn't compare to that of his God in Psalms 33:17-18.

An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither will he deliver any by his great strength. Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;

Let's hold firmly to the assurance that David had when he declares,

"BEHOLD! The EYE of the LORD is upon those that fear (revere) Him!"

We may not be able to see Him now as He watches over us, just as my daughter who couldn't see that I was closely watching out for her through the kitchen window.
But....we are ALL assured that one day He will appear before us ALL and I believe that day is drawing near my friends. Take time now to Pray. Find hope in His mercy today!

Behold, he comes with clouds;

and every eye will see him,

and they also which pierced him:

and all kindred of the earth will wail because of him.

Even so, Amen. 

I am Alpha and Omega,

the beginning and the ending,

saith the Lord, which is, and which was,

and which is to come, the Almighty.

Revelations 1:7-8