I finished my Bible reading and just sat in God’s presence towards the end of my quiet time one morning. As I glanced around the room, I felt completely surrounded by love. A warm fuzzy blanket on my lap, that my daughter crocheted for me, warmed my body. I sipped coffee from my mug which stayed warm on the coffee warmer gifted to me by my son. My Bible on my lap sported the Bible cover my other daughter had picked out especially for me. Soft background music wafted through the air from the Sonos speaker my husband had given me and had turned on that morning. The painting of our Feet in the Sand that our children gave us for Christmas, painted by a dear friend, glowed above our piano. I felt truly surrounded in a cocoon of love.

My blanket, Bible in its cover, mug I placed on my mug warmer and the beautiful painting our kids commissioned my dear friend, Robin Popp, to paint.

Glancing further, I noticed our grandfather clock that had been my fathers, the end table that was most recently my mother’s, and her mother’s before that, the piano that had been in my family for years. All of this served to remind me of my family’s love. I treasured this warm, comfortable feeling.

Then I realized that God surrounds us in His love each day, in much of the same way. We stand in the world He created for us, the sunrise he provided to light our day, the trees, shrubs, and bushes growing in His grace. We get to use the buildings, the roads, and inventions that His children designed with their minds and gifts. We raise the children He blessed us to raise, go to the jobs He provided for us, and eat the food He grew for our nourishment. We get to travel and explore His majestic mountains, the oceans He filled, and the amazing animals He created. We are encircled by His love every moment of every day.

So why is this so hard for us to remember? Do we take it all for granted? Do we wear horse-blinders? It seems that we only see the problem a head of us and focus on that. Our attention is aimed at the task at hand, of getting through the day, of working for the weekend. We live each day with a goal in mind – get through this mess.

But what if we took off our horse-blinders? Would we be able to see that God’s world is bigger than what is facing us? Would we see there may be ways around our problem; over it, under it, or perhaps we can use the Word of God to destroy it and trample it beneath our feet? Would we get a glimpse of God’s glory all around as we moved through our days, looking for His notions of love? I don’t think He makes them hard for us to find. He wants us to find them and to wallow in them, like I wallowed in my surroundings of love that precious morning.

I wonder what it would feel like to start each day with the goal of feeling surrounded in God’s love all day long? Would we have better days? I imagine we would have to actively look and claim God’s gifts, notice His wonders and proclaim them as outward expressions of His love for us. What a feeling that would be – to go about our days wrapped in His cloak of love. I want that. How about you? Let’s claim it!

Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him. Psalm 32:10