Holding Our Father's Hand

“So don’t worry, because I am with you.  Don’t be afraid, because I am your God.  I will make you strong and will help you; I will support you with my right hand that saves you.”  Isaiah 41:10

As a child, we take our dad’s or mom’s hand to cross the street or to walk in a store.  This slows us down and we long for the freedom to walk or run wherever we want to without holding someone’s hand.

As we grow into our teenage years, we desire independence and want to make our own decisions.  A parent’s job is to raise their children to be responsible and independent adults.  We embrace our freedom and believe we can do anything on our own.

Then life happens – tragedies, broken relationships, death.  We have no idea what to do or who to turn to.

In my own grief, I thought I could handle it on my own.  I worked.  I kept busy and plodded through each day.  I was independent and had walked with so many others on this journey of grief.  I knew what to do or so I thought.  I knew it in my head, but my heart was on an emotional roller coaster.  Through the death of my parents, our grandson and my dearest friend, I had my husband, Dave, to give me support and comfort in my grief.  But in Dave’s death my main support system was gone.  I needed to depend on someone who was grounded and never changing.  Someone bigger than myself.  I needed to hold my Heavenly Father’s hand.

I discovered the song by Josh Turner – “Me and God” – when my niece, Grace, downloaded it into my play list on my iPad.  Part of the words of the song are –

I am weak, and he is strong

Me and God.

He forgives me when I’m wrong

Me and God.

He’s the one I lean on

When life gets hard.

Me and God. 

On this journey of grief, my Heavenly Father is who I have depended on and whose hand I have reached out to hold keeping me in the present.  Being independent and determined to plow through it on my own, just doesn’t work in grief.  I have come to realize that maturing in the Christian faith means becoming more dependent on God.  When worry and anxiety enter, just reach out and take God’s hand.  God brings me into the moment with Him and I accept that I am His child and His hand holds onto me.

The only sustaining relationship in our lives is with our Heavenly Father.  Nothing can separate us from the love of God as Romans 8:39 tells us – “….nothing in the whole world will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Relationships are for chapters of our lives.  Brokenness, distance, death and changes happen in human relationships.  We feel the hurt, pain, and emptiness and long for life to be different or we desire what we perceive others have.  But this is our path and God sustains us, never leaves us, is always the same, loves us and holds our hand.

Take hold of your Heavenly Father’s hand today.  That’s what I am doing right now!