The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand. Psalm 37:23-24
When I read that I had an image of a man holding onto the hand of his little girl, and the two of them toddling along. Her arm was up-stretched a bit, her hand hidden in the depth of his. He even leaned in just a touch towards her so her feet would stay on the ground. She barely came up to his thighs. There was tenderness in his eyes and innocent wonder in hers. Love radiated from him, and trust from her.
I guess it is easy to see the analogy- the man is my Lord and I’m that little girl with her Daddy and the path is my life..
Think back to the last time you walked with a small child. Maybe they were distracted by a butterfly and wanted to veer off the path, or wanted to let go of your hand and skip ahead. Perhaps you skipped with them, swinging hands and laughing. Could be that you let them dash ahead, just for a moment, but stayed close by and watched them like a hawk.
Or, you had to hold firm and give their hand a little yank to stop them from crossing the street before looking both ways. Maybe at times you slowed your pace to match theirs, but at other times you insisted they speed it up a bit.
There were probably times you even swooped them into your arms and carried them for a bit when they were too tired or a little teary eyed to walk. Or maybe you held on as they sat down with a defiant plop and had a tantrum screaming they were not walking another inch.
But when they stubbed their shoe, or missed a step, your firm hand was there to pull them up so they didn’t hit their face on the sidewalk. You help them right their feet on the path and kept going.
Yeah, I guess you can see the analogy. At least I hope you can. Your Father in Heaven loves you that much, and more. Take His hand and walk today, talking together, experiencing the wonders of His creation, learning from His wisdom and leaning on His strength. And if you are too weary, let Him lift you to His chest. Lay your head in the indent of His soft, warm shoulder and let Him carry you a bit.
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8
