Hello, God. It's me, Mara.

You know, Lord, for every action, there will be a reaction. Various stories from several states told about beavers toppling trees onto power lines, knocking out power to a large swath of customers. Power repairmen said "Those marks are consistent with a beaver having brought the tree down and there are wood chips around the tree."

Beavers felling trees are an action; the reaction is a huge power outage, possible fires and roads being closed. The problem must be fixed, which the power company did/does, by replacing poles and trimming back trees; so, if "eager-beaver" decides to topple more trees, a power outage is less likely to happen.

Humans as well as animals have actions which can cause a reaction; sometimes a very serious reaction. Parents with young children have rules such as - don't drink what's under the sink - don't play in the street - don't walk out from behind parked cars; the list goes on. Rules are made because "somebody" loves us!

Lord, You also have "rules" of guidance to protect Your children: not to restrict us but to protect us. Your commands are both positive and prohibitive and though we might not like them, they are for our protection. We've read that long ago the laws for cleanliness didn't make a lot of sense back then but now, thousands of years after they were written, we've begun to understand bacteria and viruses.

We read about the consequences of the choices people made in Jeremiah's time in the Old Testament - such stubborn people, much like we are today. We need to pray that You would make our hearts less stubborn and our lives more nearly conformed to Your will, praying with the Psalmist in Psalm 119:93, "I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life."

Thank You, Lord for blessings and protection for us.

Love, Mara