Hold My Hand

Isaiah 55:9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." (NIV)


We were leaving church the other day. As usual, it was quite a gymnastics workout to get our twin two-year olds reined in before we opened the door to the parking lot.

As we made our way towards the street, I reached for my daughter's hand. She did not want my hand. She twisted and turned. She protested and resisted. She even tried that famous kid move. You know. The one where they collapse while you're holding their arm, so that they drop in that spot and you have to stop. As I tried, unsuccessfully, to convince her to willingly hold my hand, it hit me that this is the way I often treat my Heavenly Father.

There are times in life when God is leading me on to new chapters. He opens the door to things, sometimes scary and sometimes delightful. At times, I'm tempted to lose focus, to try to wiggle free from His grip or to run ahead of Him, thinking I know the way. Like my daughter in that parking lot, sometimes I think I've made it so far. At times, I'm so eager to go running out ahead of God to explore all of the new things in the various chapters of my life. I get overcome with emotion and the glitter of all of the excitement and newness ahead of me. I think, "I've got this. I'll meet you over there."

What I fail to remember in these moments, is that I need to keep holding God's hand. I need to keep in step with the Spirit. There are things coming toward me that, without God's perspective, I may never see coming until I'm demolished by them. While I can now walk in some areas where I used to crawl, the truth is that I still need the wisdom, insight and perspective that my Father God has on my life and my situations. I need His protection and His guidance. Most of all, I need every step of my life to be under the leadership of His unfailing love.

Just as my daughter failed to understand the very real dangers around her in that parking lot, I often fail to remember that God's perspective is so much higher and broader than my own. He sees things I have yet to see. He understands things I am far from understanding. When He guides my hand lovingly into His, I can trust that it is out of love and leadership. It is not a power play to kill my joy. God wants to lead me in love. He wants to walk with me in every area of life and to teach me His perspective, with His wisdom. What a gift that God extends to each of us the opportunity to take His hand and walk the roads of life together.

What about you? Are there areas in your life where you are attempting to run ahead of God - whether in sheer excitement, or in outright rebellion? Are there ways you are finding His pace too slow for your taste? Take these things to your loving Father and ask Him to give you the courage and the discipline to hold His hand through these roads of life. Remember afresh Who it is that extends His hand of love and protection to you.

Trust God to lead you to places and adventures you'd never dream. Rely on His sovereign and sufficient perspective. Hold His hand. Keep in step with His Spirit.


Galatians 5:25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.