The God Who Holds Your Hand

 

I the Lord have called thee in righteousness,

and will hold thine hand,

and will keep thee,

and give thee for a covenant of the people

for a light of the Gentiles. . . .

            — Isaiah 42:6

 

            She was in a straitjacket with Houdini-style handcuffs, a gag, duct tape, a sword of Damocles hanging over her head by a thread, a moat full of crocodiles snapping at her feet, a ball and chain attached to her ankle, tied up to the tracks in the path of an oncoming train.

 

Feeling a little . . . stressed? You got that right.

 

We've all been there, whether it's because of a health crisis or a job loss or a relation-ship that sank. In her case, as a bystander, she'd gotten sucked into a non-Christian person's sin, bigtime. Anything she might try to do to get out of the trouble would only make things worse. She couldn't even talk about it, to anyone but God. She had no choice but to sit still, stay silent, hang in there and trust Him to work it out.

 

Why, God, why? When, God, when? She didn't seem to get an answer, hard as she prayed.

 

All she could do was wait . . .

 

. . . and wait . . .

 

. . . and wait . . .

 

You've been there, haven't you? Outwardly, she tried to stay cool, calm and dry. Inwardly, though, she was devastated, crying out to God constantly. But she eventually realized that her selfishness, fuss and worry were dissing God. How humiliating.

 

After all, she was totally invested in Him. She had yielded her life to Him. She had surrendered everything.

 

Didn't she trust Him?

 

Doesn't the heavenly Father know best?

 

Didn't she believe that He would come through for her?

 

The person who had caused all the trouble, and entangled her in it, didn't yet know the Savior. Could God be using this predicament to get through to that person, especially by observing her example of faith while under fire?

 

Whoever promised her a bed of roses, anyway? Nothing big ever happens there. God can't forge strong new links, surgically remove what needs to be cut away, or cook up significant change, if He keeps people above the fray, clean and sterile in His trophy case, away from the stresses and problems in life.

 

Fiery furnaces and sticky situations are where He does His God thing. All she had to do was stay cool 'til He got her unstuck.

 

One day, like a bolt from the blue, came the big breakthrough! She was off the hook!

 

Everything had seemed like an impossible mess that would ruin the rest of her life. But then God stepped in and poof!

 

She was saved!

 

She could get on with her life!

 

Strangely, she was a little too shocked to even offer up praise and thanksgiving to God that day. Dazzled by the turn of events, she tried to calm down with a little housecleaning. She picked up what she thought was a quarter. But it was a token from the Family Fun Arcade -- not known to be a bastion of Christian philosophy. She'd never seen the coin around before. On the back was this command:

 

TRUST

IN

GOD

 

            "You got that right," she whispered, smiling, holding the coin tight.

 

All over the media that day, there were stories about a train wreck that should have happened, but didn't. Train wreck!?! Miraculously avoided?!? What a "coincidence" with her situation. Ha, ha! You got THAT right, too! Good one, God.

 

            Then she ran into the laundry room. A forgotten greeting card that she had bought long ago for someone else, but never gave, fluttered to the floor. She picked it up. It showed a peaceful path under overarching trees. She read the message, clouded by the hot tears of relief and joy that were filling her eyes:

 

You have a God Who hears you,

The power of love behind you,

The Holy Spirit within you,

And all of heaven ahead of you.

You have everything you need.

                             -- Max Lucado

 

            She lay face down on the floor, and sobbed.

 

He'd been right there the whole time.

 

Holding her hand, hearing her whispered pleas for help, orchestrating her deliverance.

 

The most powerful Being in the Universe would never let her down, never let her fall.

 

She really did have everything she needed, now and always.

 

Oh, yes, Adonai, Adored One, Deliverer, Comforter. You're all anybody needs.

 

You got THAT right, most of all. †