If your week looks anything like mine, you are running a little ragged. Yours might feel better or worse, but regardless there are so many days that I wake up telling God how I don’t have what I need for today at all. I don’t know how to do it. I can’t possibly have the strength or time to do it. I don’t even want to do it.
Sometimes the way ahead feels completely impossible. The mountain in front of you looks insurmountable. The feelings around you threaten to drown you, and you are convinced that there is no other way but to live in anxiety and constant hypervigilance.
I will tell you what God has been telling me. Not because I understand it completely, but because it is most comforting when you are facing a life that seems impossible.
He tells me, “I’m holding your hand. Just walk with me.”
It’s so simple. And really, I want a plan, a way made clear, something a little more direct and where I could move into controlling what’s next. He only gives me Himself though, His presence walking with me and holding my hand. It’s like a child—if you are crossing the street, you grab their hand in order to know they are right by your side as you lead them across.
I often think I need more control or knowledge about the situation, when really what I need is His presence. As I acknowledge His constant presence, His never leaving me, His steady love for me, I can breathe a sigh of relief. I still don’t know where we are going or how we are going to get there, but I can just walk with Him, hand-in-hand.
The really cool thing is that it doesn’t matter what the problem is. You might look at your situation and try to say that only more knowledge or control will fix your problem. I would kindly disagree. Whatever the circumstance in your life, you can hold His hand and let Him walk you through.
I have told God so many times that I’ve lost count about how I don’t know how to do whatever it is He’s calling me to do. I don’t know how to walk through grief. I don’t know how to start a ministry by myself. I don’t know how to do marriage. I don’t know how to do parenting. I don’t know how to help anybody. I don’t know how to go through surgery. I don’t know how to plan all that’s ahead.
What cracks me up is that His answer is almost always the same. He says, “I know. I’ve got your hand, and I know how. Now, let’s walk together.” It’s always about the simplicity of dependence and relationship.
So, each day this week, as I approach the next hard thing, I start to freak out. And He so gently reminds me that He has my hand, and we are walking together. I don’t have more information than that, but the tenderness of His love helps me take a big breath of relief. I can push the anxiety away because He is near. I can push the fear away because I know it doesn’t help me, and help is only found in Him. He won’t let me go. Not ever! And He won’t let you go either. Whatever you face today, He is holding your hand and walking with you.
I am Yahweh, your mighty God! I grip your right hand and won’t let you go! I whisper to you: “Don’t be afraid; I am here to help you!” Isaiah 41:13