When We Need Help

This early morning was cold but pleasant.  The sky was pink with the rising of the sun.  As my dog, Jack, and I meandered along neighborhood sidewalks, he engrossed in sniffing delights, and I noticing tulips and primroses in gardens, my eye was drawn to one particular daffodil.  It stood tall and proud, alone in the middle of a graveled driveway!  It so took me by surprise that I paused just to stare at it.

I’ve seen such driveways being laid.  A thick sheet of plastic is put over the ground to keep weeds from poking unsightly heads through.  Then gravel is poured and evenly strewn across the plastic.  Presto!  A driveway!  How did that one, lone daffodil, mange to grow straight up through plastic and gravel to display its beauty?  I stood another minute to enjoy this burst of yellow and green.  It was as if heaven had reached down to pull it up through impossibilities just to display its splendor.

I walked on with the words of Psalm 121 sounding in my mind:

“I lift my eyes unto the hills.  Where does my help come from?  My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.

He will not let you stumble; the One who watches over you will not slumber.  Indeed, He who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps.  

The Lord Himself watches over you!  The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade.  The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.  

The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life.  The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.

In the light of the world’s pandemic, with people who cannot work, gatherings of people forbidden, staying at home the safest option, it is not surprising that fear has taken hold in the hearts of many.  Like plastic and gravel laid on the ground, they feel smothered to all peace and joy.  Hope has been choked away, but there is hope.  Like the lone daffodil, growing in its impossible field of gravel, you and I can flourish in hope and confidence for all our tomorrows when we, lift our eyes unto the hills from where our help comes.