Our Kind Keeper

It is a humbling experience when people do nice things for us. In many ways, I confess, I am spoiled rotten to the core. This week I noticed several ways in which others expressed kindness to me.

One was a surprise gift of the most divine drink from a well-known chain, affectionately named the “Medicine Ball.” Two super sweet coworkers brought one by just because I recommended to one that she try it. My precious son and I enjoyed an evening of conversation and yogurt–his treat. A delightful young lady expressed her appreciation because I took the time to be kind to her. And my husband constantly goes above and beyond with his undeserved kindness to me.

An aspect of kindness is that of keeping. A keep is a place of protection from harm. A secluded and protected place that is difficult for an adversary to penetrate.

One of my favorite songs is Susan Ashton’s rendition of Psalm 121. One of the repeated phrases is, “The Lord is my keeper.” When we think of this attribute and the context of the psalm, it speaks of the Lord as our protector, our shade, and our covering.

We connect to God this week as our Kind Keeper. A Kind Keeper is what He is. It is His character, and He cannot be otherwise. He is always kind, and He keeps each one of us.

Many times we may not recognize His kindness to us each day. Just this morning, in the middle of a busy city, I heard the birds singing. The blessing of a much needed rain shower. Cozy blankets to warm us from the cold allow us to fall asleep peacefully. These are examples of His kindness.

How can we connect these aspects to our lives? We recognize His kindness and keeping are intertwined. For example, He is kind by putting measures in place to protect something of value. A hedge. It protects what is valuable and hinders the possibility of something destructive passing. This could be a relationship or a place. This could be our mind, what we think about, what we allow into our mind. He is our protection. He is our shade. He is our covering. He is our safety. He is our refuge from the storm. He goes to battle against the enemy for us. He is our strength. He is our Kind Keeper.

Our Faith Connection for this week: Name some instances in which others expressed their kindness to you. Recognize these as blessings, gifts to you. What are some areas that you notice are protected? What are areas that may need protection? Read and meditate on Psalm 121. (Enjoy a beautiful musical version of the psalm here.)