He Isn’t Safe, But He’s Good

She handed me a little gift bag (actually, she stuffed it into the pocket of my lab coat) while we were at work. “What’s this?” I asked, as she caught me by surprise. 

“It’s nothing. Just a little something for you,” she responded with an impish grin. I was in the middle of drawing blood from a baby, so I had to wait for a peek. By the time I looked into the bag, my dear coworker had disappeared off to another task. 

When I peeked inside, I had the strangest feeling— like God had told her my secrets! She had written me a sweet note, thanking me for being an encourager and enclosed a beautiful pair of hand knitted socks with the logo of a lion on the package. It may have seemed like a simple, sweet gesture, but it was oh….so much more than that! Socks are really a random gift…but there was nothing random about this. 

You see, I have Raynaud’s syndrome. It causes vasoconstriction of blood vessels, especially in the hands and feet. My hands will sometimes turn white or blue and feel numb or tingly. It is worse with cold weather or emotional stress. With all of the cold weather we’ve had lately, my feet have been very cold and uncomfortable. I had even thought about trying to find some kind of heated slippers. 

This friend who loves to knit had no idea that I have Raynaud’s. That just floored me that she would randomly give me a beautiful pair of warm, knitted socks just when I had been bothered with my feet being cold. But that’s not all. The Lion logo on it was especially significant for that day…THAT day in particular. 

That exact morning in my devotional time, I had been reading in Acts chapter 2 about the Holy Spirit coming down at Pentecost. Verse 2 described it as a sound like a violent wind. That morning I had been pondering about the mighty power of God, how He is fearful and awesome like a violent tornado, like a ferocious lion— yet good, compassionate, and loving. 

As I was musing over the complex nature of God, it reminded me of a quote from a book I love—The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe from the Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis. It is an allegorical story in which the character Aslan, who is a Lion, depicts Jesus. In the book there is a conversation between Lucy and Mr. Beaver about the nature of Aslan. Lucy asks, “Is He safe?” 

“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.” I had been thinking about that quote describing Aslan in regard to the nature of God, and my friend not only gave me socks with a lion on them, but she even mentioned Aslan in her note to me! It was a totally weird God-wink moment…or as another dear friend would say— “A kiss from the King!” 

Something so simple. Yet such a WOW moment. That a friend cared enough about me to do something kind. That my God cared enough about me to make it obvious that He was behind the whole thing. 

“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). Oh, yes, He does. Sometimes He just stuffs it into your pocket and smiles.