But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. Psalms 3:3
I was studying for a lesson in Mark
[4:35]-41. You probably recall the story of sleeping Jesus in a boat with His
disciples and a storm came up suddenly and He calmed the storm with His
command. So while doing some research on
the subject, I ran across an article that talked about cathedral architecture.
Just as I was going to click back because the search engine had pulled up
something I thought was totally unrelated, it caught my attention. The article said that churches during the
middle ages were constructed with a rectangular sanctuary with a curved ceiling
to remind their worshippers of the fact, that first century Christians in
hiding had their churches under large boats.
That the curved ceilings with the large columns represented the spars of
the boat, so it was an homage to those who had to resort to worship the Lord in
hiding for fear of persecution. Never saw that before!
Sometimes, I think we go through
life never looking up and we miss the coolest things that God has to say to us. I am so guilty of focusing on my life and the
little things that I believe are so important and I am missing what is going on
just over my head. I love Psalms 3:3. It
has such a special meaning to me. When
my husband was in critical condition in ICU, I had a visual picture come into
my mind of my Heavenly Father placing two fingers under my chin and raising my
eyes up to His eyes. What a picture and
what a comfort.
I need to remind myself frequently
that God expects us to look up to Him for our encouragement instead of looking
horizontally towards others. The Lord
wants us not to look at our feet where we are walking but up to His back
shoulders as He leads us forward protecting and guiding all the way. When you relate to Him like that, it sure takes
all the worry and burdens off of you as He promised.
Lift up your heads!
Jackie Gillespie