How to Hold God's HandSample

Do you remember a time when you were younger and maybe you were walking down a dark alley somewhere, and your elder sibling or parent held your hand as you walked through? Do you remember what that felt like? Them holding your hand signified their presence with you. You were not alone in this. Holding someone’s hand is an intimate expression of their care and love for you. What if it was someone else who held your hand? Would we still feel that same sense of security? Similarly, when times get tough around us, we naturally turn to things familiar to us. Whether that’s God or ourselves, our experiences or our solutions. If we aren’t familiar with God’s presence, with God’s “hand,” then we will turn to the wrong “hand”, who will lead us down the wrong path. How can we feel that presence of the Lord by holding His hand?

My mind goes back to Psalm 139. He is present to us. “When I awake, I am still with you” (verse 18). From before we’re born to our workplace, God is present to us. He is available. He is accessible. Throughout this Psalm, we see how God is present to us; there is nowhere we can go to escape Him.

However, that was not always the case. Because of the fall, we were separated from God. We were made dead to God in our trespasses (Ephesians 2). But now, once our eyes have been opened, we must continually yearn for God. “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God… My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord…” (Psalm 42:1-2 & Psalm 84:1-2). Once we know God, that hunger to know Him must continue to grow. God is constantly calling us into an invitation to find rest in Him. He’s always calling us to stay connected with Him. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28-30). “Come away with me...and get some rest” (Mark 6:30-34).

Run to go out of recreational pursuit of God’s presence rather than a sense of obligation or contractual duty. It will help develop that hunger for the Lord and yearning for the Lord’s presence. He wants that relationship with you, one where you can come to and be still in His presence. Don’t wait for a crisis to happen to go to God. Accept His invitation. Find rest in Him. When hard times come, we might hold on to “another hand,” one we are more familiar with if we haven’t learned to spend time in God’s presence.

Actions to take:

• Disconnecting from the physical world and connecting to God in prayer, meditation, and listening to His Word.
• I will make a habit of discussing my thoughts and intentions with Him every hour as I go through my day.
• I will make a habit of thanking Him in the moments of my day that He is with me, seeing what I’m experiencing, and knowing I need Him.

Prayer

Our Father in heaven, we thank you, Lord, that you constantly invite us to find rest. Lord, you know how beaten down we are by the world, weary and wounded. Lord, thank you for inviting us away in isolation to your presence, to find peace and healing in you. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.