Stay Put In The Pocket

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16:33, NIV

FUN FACT ABOUT ME: I kinda love kangaroos. Those pouches, though. Baby kangaroos, also known as joeys, are the size of a lima bean when they are born. After birth, they crawl up their mother’s fur and climb into her pouch, where they continue growing. If I were a mother kangaroo, I would have to gently shove over my water bottle, some snacks, and lipstick to make room for my precious joey. After all, it must double as a purse.

In all seriousness, though, those pouches make it quite easy for the mothers to keep track of their babies, to carry them around and to bond. They also bring identity and protection. This joey will know it’s a kangaroo because it is within a kangaroo. It participates in whatever the mother is doing, whether gathering food, kickboxing away predators, sleeping, or hopping from one place to the next. Even though this joey is simply chilling inside its mother’s pouch, just by virtue of being physically inside of her, it must think it is doing those things too.

Similarly, when we place our faith in Jesus, our lives become a part of His. We now identify with everything He has done and is doing. We are in His fold and are hidden in Him. The apostle Paul says to believers, “You also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11). We are dead to sin and alive to God because we are in Him.

This means Jesus was crucified, and so are we.

Jesus defeated death through the Resurrection, and so do we.

Jesus is alive to God, and so are we.

Jesus overcame the world, and so do we.

All of our riches, blessings, and inheritance are in Christ. All the love, joy, and peace are found in Him. Jesus emphasized this for us in today’s verse.

Let’s not look to anything else for peace but Jesus. When we find ourselves hopping away, trying to fight our own battles and feeling unprotected amidst our fears, let’s return to Jesus.

He is where our peace is. He is where our joy is. He is where love is. He is our shield and strength. Because He’s the One doing it all.

Let’s sit quietly in Him throughout our day, handing Him our cares and letting Him take care of them, like mother kangaroos do for their joeys. We can rest assured that we have one job and one job only. To stay put in the pocket.

GRACE REFLECTION: Today, remember you are hidden in Him, you participate with Him in His Kingdom work, and you have access to all that is His. You are about your Father’s business, simply because you are His.