A Covering

My thumb still hurts. A few days ago, my nail split in half so I decided to just rip it off despite the voice in my head telling me “Don’t do it!”  I knew it would damage my nail bed.  I knew it would bleed.  I knew it was going to hurt for a long time afterward but I did not want to take the time to find a clipper or look for scissors.  I did what I wanted to do in that moment.  When the deed was done, a wave of regret washed over me.  I applied pressure to stop the bleeding and covered my throbbing thumb with a Band-Aid.  For the next few days, the only thing that gave my self-inflicted injured thumb comfort was the protection and covering of the Band-Aid. 

Psalm 91:1-4

91 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
    will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
² I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
    my God, in whom I trust.”

³ For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
    and from the deadly pestilence.
⁴ He will cover you with his pinions,
    and under his wings you will find refuge;
    his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.

We make a mess of our lives.  We choose our own way out of defiance and sometimes out of ignorance.  The consequences are well known to us because we’ve been down the same road before.  I’ve ripped my nail many a time with the same outcome yet I choose to do it one more time.  That is by definition insanity.  Trust me; no matter how many times I rip my nail off, the result will be the same.  Sin blinds us to this truth; the wages of sin is death.  (Romans 6:23) The only relief we have is His covering.  He delivers us from Satan’s grip.  If we look back over our life, we find He’s been covering us for quite a while.  Trusting and abiding in Him is the only way we find relief from the pain and the stain of sin.