FEBRUARY 23, Isaiah 30:15

Scott came into the living room, carrying his white kitten, Snowflake, who purred and snuggled comfortably in his arms. “I’m so glad you let me keep this kitten, even though we already had two cats,” he told his parents. “Snowflake is the only one that will let me pick her up and carry her anywhere I go.” Mom smiled at them. “Well, Scott, you’ve been so gentle with her ever since she was tiny,” she said.
“I know,” answered Scott, “but I’m just the same with Jemimah, and she howls and cries the whole time I hold her. She’s so nervous and jittery. She just waits for a chance to run off.” Dad nodded. “She’s that way with all of us,” he said. “Maybe that’s because she had a deprived ‘kittenhood’ before we got her,” suggested Mother. “We’ve taken good care of her for all these years, and yet she’s never learned to trust us completely.”

“And that Tangerine!” added Scott. “I never even try to pick him up, because I don’t want to be scratched!”

Dad put his newspaper down.“These three cats remind me of the ways people react to God’s ‘picking them up’ and placing them where He wants them,” he said slowly. “Think about it–which one do you think you’re like?”
Scott looked at Snowflake, still lying peacefully beside him, and grinned. “I hope I’m like Snowflake,” he decided, “content to be wherever God puts me.”
Mother nodded. “But I’m afraid that, once in a while, we’re more like Jemimah–nervous about everything that happens, or like Tangerine–too full of our own plans.”
“We can all pray for grace to be content where God has placed us,”said Dad with a smile. “We’re happy as we trust Him.”

Thought: Has God placed you in a difficult spot–such as a broken home, a tough school, or a class you don’t enjoy? Don’t be nervous and jittery about your circumstances, waiting for a chance to go a different way. And don’t be so full of your own plans that you can’t trust God, content in His plan. God loves you, and He knows best. Trust Him.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, if I do not have faith in You, I would be wasting my time planning for my own things to happen. You have promised that I can rest in you and trust in You. Help me to go on believing in You and to cast my cares on You. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.