There are so many exciting things about the bible but my favourite thing has to be how the stories confirm each other, how 3 days in the belly of a fish for Jonah could be likened to 3 days in the grave for Jesus, or how the instruction given to prophet Ezekiel to lie on his sides for a total of 430 days was symbolic to reflect the exact same number of years Israel will be in captivity for. Stories of the bible speak of themselves and confirm each other. Again, another reason why if we must understand the full counsel of God, we must be eating and meditating on His full word as revealed in the bible.

I was studying Acts 9 a few days ago and I took note of verse 25, “But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.” This was when Paul had converted and started to speak for Christ. People who did not agree with Him plotted to kill him and so his companions created an escape for him by letting him down in a basket through a hole in the wall. I wrote down in my notes; ‘I wonder if there is a spiritual significance of baskets‘. This was all I wrote and I’ve carried it in my spirit since that day and then this morning, I woke up meditating on it again and I remembered that Moses was also kept in a basket when Pharaoh asked the midwives to kill all Hebrew boys born, (same way Herod ordered the killing of all males under 2 after the birth of Jesus).

I kept probing within, seeking if indeed ‘a basket’ represented something deeper, and The Holy Spirit used the two stories with baskets to show me 4 things. He said the basket in both stories; 1) Protected those within it, 2) preserved them till they got to their destination, 3) kept them afloat till they were out of sight from their enemies and 4) kept them from the raging storms that threatened to take their life.

The Holy Spirit said that the only thing that does all of the above is ‘The presence of God‘. The basket in each of these stories are symbolic to show us what the presence of God is to anyone who carries Him. God’s presence is a preserver, protector, life boat and blocker to the wiles of the enemy. As Moses was kept in spite of the decree of pharaoh and the storm in the sea and still arrived safely to a place that Pharaoh’s daughter will see him and take him as hers, Paul also was preserved and blocked from the men that had threatened to end his life because of his mission to preach the gospel.

The presence of God does many things in the life of a believer and that’s why God wants us always in that presence, not allowing perpetual, presumtuous sin move us from where God will have us.

Each time you see a basket now, I hope you are reminded of your preservation and protection in Abba because His presence if all we will ever need.