Holiness unto the Lord ...

My older brother died this week.  I had not seen him in years.  Our paths diverged when I began to follow Christ and they seldom crossed again.  Phone calls and e-mails were our infrequent contacts.

When news of his death reached me a memory from our boyhood immediately sprang to mind.  I had an altercation with a kid in our neighborhood.  He was bigger than I, as were most of the kids we played and scrapped with.  Both of us were on bicycles stopped in mid-street for the argument we were having.  Other kids surrounded us and the situation became tense.

Trying to defuse the incident I cracked a joke—a poor one.  The others laughed.  My assailant didn't.  He said, "I resent that," and walked over to me, still astride his bike. When he got close he struck me with a hard fist.  The blow landed on my cheekbone with force enough to snap my head back and leave a bruise for days.

As soon as he landed that blow my older brother was on him like a duck on a June bug.  He flung that guy, bicycle and all, out of the street and into some palmettos.   I thought, "Wow! It's nice to have a big brother in a time like this," as the bully pedaled off crying.

I now have no siblings, but I still have a big brother.  My elder brother is Jesus, and He is a gracious, mighty deliverer.  I seem to be too small and too stupid to stay out of trouble.  I'm glad He names me as part of His family, and stands by me in every situation I can't handle.  Forces of evil can dwarf me by their size and strength, but they can't keep me imprisoned by fear.  I have someone who is always present with power to sustain and deliver.

Just today my devotions took me through Psalm 31.  There I read, "My times are in your hands."  I can't control my times, but I am not abandoned to them.  The Lord is in charge, not the times.  It's comforting to have a big brother in times like these!