Word
Count: 494
He Wants to Hold your Hand
I was about six years old
when my daddy was elected superintendent of education in
The most delectable memory of
this adventure was lunchtime at Hall’s Café, which was within walking distance
of the court house. It was here that,
irrefutably, the culinary expertise of creating the master hamburger had been
perfected! (After five decades and to this day, I have never eaten a truly,
Southern hamburger that even came close to Hall’s—so sorry to break the news,
Paula Deen!)
Following such sumptuous
dining, dad caught my hand and announced, “We’ve got time to look around
Prentiss for a bicycle.”
As we set out walking, my
attention was drawn downward—to the novelty of intricately and geometrically
laid brick forming the streets throughout the town. I was mesmerized by their design—so
mesmerized that I stepped ahead of daddy into the path of an oncoming
vehicle! Luckily for me, he had
maintained a tight grip on my tiny hand since leaving the café. He intervened so quickly and powerfully, that
I was left dangling as a marionette on tippy toes, practically in mid-air! When I looked up at him and realized he had
saved me, the man looked a mile tall!
“Don’t look down all the
time,” he said in an authoritative, yet loving voice. “There are times you must look up.”
If any of the readers of this
column are like me, then you believe that throughout life’s journey God
provides us with examples, experiences, sayings…for a purpose. And so it is with the events of that day so
very long ago.
In reading the book of
Isaiah, the childhood memory of dad firmly holding my hand came flooding back
and with renewed meaning. Chapter 41,
verse 13 says,
“For I
the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will
help thee.”
The eternal lesson gleaned
from days of yesteryear resonate for all of us:
God is our Perfect Father Who holds our right hand constantly and
unwaveringly, Who tells us not to fear, Who tells us
He is the Almighty God Who will intervene and powerfully help us, Who speaks to
us in authority motivated by His infinite love for us. Our “job” is to not always be looking
downward—at the circumstances, our mistakes, the consequences of self-will, the
trials and tribulations of our earthly sojourn.
But, rather, to look up—upward to the God of Grace Who
has never and, indeed, can ever lose His grip!
He saves us and as an added benefit, when we look up to focus clearly
from our new perspective, we see that He is big enough to take care of us—even more
than a mile tall!
“Fear not; I will help thee.”