My daughter painted a picture many years ago and we named her art work, ‘Pennies from Heaven’; to this day, the painting inspires me. For one thing, it has my favorite colors…lots of blues and greens. There are some actual pennies glued on near the bottom of the picture. At the top of the painting there are stars, and radiant light that cascades down through the picture. There is also snow, which I find quite delightful…and the words, though tiny, ‘dashing through…’. The word ‘gift’ appears near the top in the heavens, and at the bottom, written in green paint, is the inscription, “Lord, take my hand.”
When I glance at this painting, it reminds me to count my blessings. Life can be hard. But, God literally ‘rains down’ blessings on our behalf. His miracles are new every day. And so, it is our good fortune, that, ‘pennies of love, mercy, and grace’, are heaped upon whatever hardships we may face. Our lives are transformed, made wondrously new, by His abundant goodness to us.
We often say, “God is good.” Yet, when we reflect upon that statement, we see what an understatement that really is. God is not only good, and He is not only great. God is everything! He created everything and everyone. There is nothing in the universe beyond His grasp, and yet, the hair on every one of our heads is counted.
When we think about what a miracle it is to have a heavenly father who could keep his gaze only on the beautiful stars He created, or the entire cosmos of ever-reaching beauty, and yet, His focus is on us, His beloved children! It is an amazing thought.
What joy there is in knowing that we are the children of God, the offspring He loves with all of His heart. The heart of God is all-encompassing; it pierces our own hearts with the knowledge of true love. As it is written in scripture. “We love because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:19. It is He who has taught us in the way of love, and guides our hearts to ever-deepen in love.
This is our song. This is our promise. This is the reason we were ever born in the first place. We are here to learn the love song of the heavenly father, and to sing it all of our days. It is the song we sing to our children and grandchildren, and to everyone we meet.
This is the song that has no end. The notes are emblazoned on our souls and they are ours to keep. Like pennies that rain or snow down from heaven, we are endlessly bombarded with love itself. We are beyond rich; love, the greatest treasure of the kingdom is ours. And as the lines inscribed on the painting so eloquently say, “Lord, please, take hold of my hand.”, it is just that easy, and just that hard. So, as we awake each morning, we pray again, “Whatever this day holds, thy will be done, and Lord, just take my hand.”
