When my heart was embittered
And I was pierced within,
Then I was stupid and ignorant;
I was like an animal before You.
Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You have taken hold of my right hand.
You will guide me with Your plan,
And afterward receive me to glory.
-Psalm 73:21-24
When we are trying to guide a person across a busy street, whether it be a child or an elderly person, we say, “Take my hand.” Our hand becomes the person’s guide and strength. It’s the same when God takes our hand in life.
Our Ignorance
Life can be difficult at times. We feel like a cornered wild animal without anywhere to turn. We spit and hiss and claw at out rescuer because we don’t understand that he is there to make our life peaceful and full of joy. However, if we listen to the soothing voice of the rescuer, and allow ourselves to be rescued, then we begin to understand who the rescuer is, and his purpose for our lives.
Jesus is the rescuer of our wild hearts. He never imposes His will on us, but rather, gently asks us to surrender to Him and allow Him to take our hand. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, this is the first step out of the corner. However, we need to build our trust in Him every waking hour of every day, just as a rescued puppy learns to trust her master’s voice.
When we take Jesus’ hand, He draws us close and heals our wounds. He gives us His strength to deal with this world. He then guides us to His purpose for our lives.
God’s Guidance
When we allow God to take our hand, He becomes our guide. This sounds easy, but too often we are like the little two-year-old who thinks he can do it on his own and pulls his hand away. As a parent, you see the path ahead and know where to guide the child. However, all the child sees is his own will and desire to go in the direction he wants to go.
Many times, our own direction leads to a cliff that we are running straight for, without seeing it. However, God sees the cliff and if you will allow Him, He grabs us and holds us tight before we run off of it.
Our lives would be so much better if we just allowed God to hold our hand and guide us. When we do this, we are communicating with the Father every day and asking Him which way we should go. We are trusting Him to set up our day and then guide us through it. The Psalmist understood how God was his guide and trusted Him to his daily life. The Psalmist even trusted God to guide him through difficult situations, knowing it is only God who truly knows all the particulars, which we often do not.
For You are my rock and my fortress;
For the sake of Your name You will lead me and guide me.
You will pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me,
For You are my strength.
Into Your hand I entrust my spirit;
You have redeemed me, LORD, God of truth. Psalm 31:3-5
When we take hold of God’s hand, He not only guides us, but provides His strength in our earthly walk. We don’t need to rely on our own self to be strong enough to handle whatever life throws our way. Thank goodness we have God’s strength to hold us up and guide us into good decisions.
Not only does God give us His strength, He also redeems us when we have tried to do things on our own and failed. He picks us up, holds us close and covers us with His Son’s love for us. We are so fortunate to have God as our guide.
Received in Glory
Our goal as Christians is to walk so closely with God that with our whole being, we glorify Him. There are only two men in the Bible who were able to accomplish this so completely that God took them to live with Him in Heaven without dying, Enoch and Elijah.
So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. Genesis 5:23 & 24
As they [Elijah and Elisha] were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to Heaven. 2 Kings 2:11
Both of these men took God by the hand and held on for dear life. They allowed Him to guide them and teach them His ways. They both became such companions of God that He no longer wanted to be separated from them and brought them to Heaven to live eternally in His glory.
God does the same for us. We are not be able to live so fully with God as to avoid death, so God sent His son Jesus, to cover our sinful wanderings from Him, so that we too, are able to live in His glory. Even King David, known as a man after God’s own heart, fell woefully short. Yet, he too is in Heaven, in glory.
Our biggest achievement in life should be to hold on to God’s hand and allow Him to guide us through life. As we walk with Him, we need to build a strong relationship with Him by getting to know Him as completely as possible.
Make God your most trusted and intimate friend.
