I don’t know about you, but I very much enjoy reading The Passion Translation (TPT) of the Bible. I typically study from the English Standard Version (ESV) or the New American Standard Version (NASB), but there are times that I read The Passion Translation and it speaks to me in a different way, somehow solidifying what I just read in other translations.
Yesterday I was reading the Psalms in The Passion Translation, and there was a verse that jumped out at me which made me feel instant comfort: “Lord, You are a paradise of protection to me. You lift me high above the fray. None of my foes can touch me when I’m held firmly in your wrap-around Presence!” (Psalm 61:3).
Oh, how I felt an instant sense of comfort just reading those three words, “wrap-around Presence.”
Suddenly images from my childhood came flooding back to my mind, and I felt the Lord speak.
I used to have a blanket that my Mom made me when I was a toddler. It was yellow on one side, and had rainbows and golden sparkles on the other side, and white, ruffled ribbon all around the edges. It was quite a large blanket, and it went EVERYWHERE with me!
I would carry that thing to my grandparents’ homes, to sleep overs and family vacations and it was always in any room in the house that I happened to be in. Had I been allowed to bring it to school, it probably would have accompanied me there, too. If we watched television, I would wrap myself up in my blanket and feel warm and safe. It would wrap-around me and bring a sense of comfort to any situation.
When my MawMaw died, I sat in my closet with my blanket wrapped around me, and I felt almost cocooned from the sadness.
“Lord, You are a paradise of protection to me. You lift me high above the fray. None of my foes can touch me when I’m held firmly in your wrap-around Presence!”
I want to encourage you today that the Presence of God has everything that you need to feel comfortable and safe. In this season of uncertainty, fear and for some, grief, allow the Presence of God to be a “paradise of protection” to you as He lifts you high above the natural situations that you see with your eyes. In the busyness of your mind as you try to work out the “hows” and “whens” of the future, don’t forget to allow His Presence to wrap-around you like an old blanket.
As a child, my blanket was covered in rainbow promises and glory sparkles – and so is God. He will always cover you with glory and promise and protection when you allow Him to wrap you up in His love.
~ Mandy Woodhouse
Wrap Around Presence
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