February 18, 2025 Devo

In December 2018, Irena Ivic was driving her normal route as a bus driver in Milwaukee. As she drove across an overpass over a freeway, she saw something that startled her. There was a toddler in a red onesie walking barefoot towards an intersection! The temperature outside was freezing that day, and there were no adults in sight. So Irena quickly stopped the bus, ran out, scooped up the little girl, brought her back, and sat down with her in the driver’s seat. A passenger wrapped her coat around the toddler as Irena sat trembling with the child in her arms. As they waited on the authorities, the child fell asleep. What could have been a tragic ending turned out to be a tender ending. Thank God for Irena.
Everyone needs a safe place and a safe person. Even YOU. Maybe God can be that safe person for you today. He loves it when we run to Him. He loves it when we climb up in His lap and put the full weight of everything we’re carrying on Him. We can tell Him ANYTHING, and He will listen. He will hold us and allow us to rest and find safety and security in His arms. He can be YOUR safe place today if you need one.
God needs us to be safe places as well. Irena was more than a hero that day. She was an angel of God. She could have simply shaken her head and said, “What a shame, but I’ve got a route to cover.” But she didn’t. She let the needs of that child break her heart and interrupt her day. That child, whose fate could have been tragic that day, was saved because a woman with a job to do and passengers to attend to pushed it all aside to get involved. I promise you that holding that sleeping child felt like anything but an inconvenience to Irena. It was JOY. A BLESSING. A SACRED PRIVILEGE.
Maybe there’s someone God is nudging you about that needs a safe place and a safe person. A place they can stay. A place they can come to when they’re hurting, desperate, or alone. Maybe you can be that one who will listen to them. That one who will love them unconditionally. That one who will be God’s shield and refuge. That one who will act on God’s behalf as Irena did. Maybe you can become God’s place of safety. You don’t have to have wings to be an angel. You just have to have a heart. That’s God’s Word for you today.