Daily Word of Grace # 105 (August 10, 2020)
When I was in college the supergroup Traveling Wilburys (Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, and Jeff Lynne…all in one band!) released their first hit, “Handle with Care.” This song is a plea from someone who has been through the mill to be handled with care, treated with grace: “Been beat up and battered ’round, been sent up and I’ve been shot down. You’re the best thing that I’ve ever found. Handle me with care…I’ve been fobbed off and I’ve been fooled, I’ve been robbed and ridiculed in daycare centers and night schools. Handle me with care.” Corporately, during what has so far certainly been one of the most stressful years in our history, this song really resonates. It also really resonates on an individual level for those who have “been beat up and battered ‘round” or “been robbed and ridiculed” in their personal lives. In Jesus Christ we have a Savior who always handles us with care, as we read in scripture, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). On Good Friday Jesus was literally “beat up and battered ‘round”, literally “robbed and ridiculed” for a world that did anything but handle him with care. And yet Jesus still handled everyone with care—and still does. This means when it comes to your Risen Savior, you can indeed “cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).
Love an Prayers,
Dave