“The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” – Deuteronomy 33:27 KJV
A person walked into the church the other day during vacation bible school. “Wow!” she said, “This is amazing. We never had anything like this.” From the blowup frog arch at the entrance, to the waterfall and grass hut in the sanctuary, to the exciting music videos, VBS looks a lot different from when I was a kid. Watching the kids dance along to the Power Shuffle song seemed light-years away from our simple hand motions to Deep and Wide.
So I was surprised when I heard the kids singing “Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms; Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms.” Leaning on the Everlasting Arms was written way back in 1887 by Anthony Showalter and Elisha Hoffman. In writing to comfort two former students who lost their wives, Showalter reflected on the image of God’s everlasting arms holding us up in our times of trial. This led to the song.
The image of God’s strong arms holding us is just as marvelous today as it was back then. Whether it be comfort for a husband who lost his wife or comfort for a child who feels lost and afraid, we all can use a reminder that “God is our refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.”
May you lean on the everlasting arms this week.
Pastor Mark