Today’s Daily Bread ~ Sticks and stones…

Zechariah 2:8-9 – “After a period of glory, the LORD Almighty sent me against the nations who oppressed you.  For He said, ‘Anyone who harms you harms my most precious possession.  I will raise my fist to crush them, and their own slaves will plunder them.’  Then you will know that the LORD Almighty sent me.”

When Mike and I first moved to North Flower Mound, I had a rough go.  I work odd hours that make socializing difficult.  It was hard to do morning play dates, because I don’t leave the office until ten am, and every toddler-mom on the earth knows that by eleven o’clock, it’s time to get the little ones home for lunch and naps.  I couldn’t really stand around and socialize with the career moms, either, because they didn’t get home from work until 5:45pm or so.  Because of my early bedtime, we’re eating dinner by 5:30, and then racing off for baths, books and bed.

So I did the only thing I really could do.  Each day after nap time, around 3:30 or so, the kids and I would take the stroller up to a nearby park.  The kids would play, and I would lurk around any mothers that happened to gather there that day, lapping up every crumb of conversation they might throw my way.

I remember one day in particular.  Nick was walking the perimeter of the playground, lap after lap, trying not to fall off of the wooden barrier.  Caitlyn was trying to play with two other girls, who were about two years older.  Their mother (I assume she was the mother of at least one of them), was reading a magazine, and hadn’t really responded to my pitiful attempt at friend-making.

I settled down on a bench to watch.  And then I heard this:

“Hey, girl!  You can’t play with us!  You’re just a baby!”

Caitlyn was really too young to be discouraged by it, so she kept right on tagging along.  The girls kept taunting her, their mother continued to say nothing, and finally I’d had enough.

“Sweetheart, come here.  Why don’t you and I go swing?”

“Wow, mom!  They really hate me, don’t they?”

She was barely three when she spoke those words, breaking a piece of my heart in two.  She and Nick are my precious children, my most precious possessions.  The NIV and the KJV both translate the phrase  this way ~ “the apple of His eye.”  We are the apple of our Father’s eye…just like my children are to me.  And when someone speaks hurtful words to one of us, it is as if they are saying them to Jesus Himself.

Caitlyn has no memory of this incident, but it affected me deeply.  I know I’ll carry it with me, not in a bitter, unforgiving way; but rather as a reminder of how truly precious each soul is to our Father.  The playground incident convicts me.  I remember hurtful things I’ve said about others, either to them or behind their backs, and I know how deeply it offends our Lord.  Jesus tells His disciples in Matthew 25:40, “And the King will tell them, ‘I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sister, you were doing it to me.’”

Each soul on this earth, whether they accept Christ or not, is the apple of His eye.  Every person you’ve ever come in contact with was uniquely made, hand-crafted with the utmost love, and designed for a divine purpose.  God breathed His life-giving breath into them, and introduced them into the world, perfect in His sight. 

I have a dear friend, Anne Shannon, who blogs about the heartbreak of having a daughter that’s different from her peers.  Her sweet baby is bullied ruthlessly, and Anne has been forced to make some terribly difficult decisions.  Jesus feels my friend’s pain anytime we physically, emotionally or spiritually harm one of His own.

As you start your day, take a moment to marvel at the wonder of His love.  His love for you is endless, everlasting, unfailing and unfathomable.  Higher than the highest of heights and deeper than the deepest sea.  You are a rare, beautiful, unique and precious soul…worth the very blood of our Savior.  Carry yourself as though you believe it.  And when you look around, try not to see others as the world does.  Instead, see them through the eyes of God.  They are His children, lambs who’ve lost their way.  Let’s love with the heart of Christ, letting Him shine through us, guiding His beloved back to Him.

Dear Heavenly Father, we confess that we have not loved Your children the way we should.  Please forgive us for this, and help us to repent.  God, if there are difficult people in our lives, put them on our hearts right now.  We lift them up to You, God, and we surrender our pride.  You have placed them in our paths on purpose; show us how to be the hands and feet of Christ to them.  Touch our eyes, so we might see Your people as You do.  Touch our hearts that we might love them with the life-changing love of Jesus.  Multiply our faith exponentially, and give us the strength and the desire to love until it makes a difference.  We love You, God, with everything we have.  We ask these things in the name of Your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.