Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the LORD holds them by the hand.” Psalm 37:23
It seems so easy…but it just not. In the Disney movie Aladdin, the central figure named Aladdin (bet you saw that one coming) and the beautiful young princess are in a difficult situation. Options are limited because the bad guys are just about to win the day–grab her and jail him. He reaches out his hand, looks her in the eyes and says, “Do you trust me?”
Well, you’ve probably seen the movie a dozen times, but the bottom line is she does, they escape, and eventually live happily ever after. But not before one more precarious situation, one more extended hand and one more time the all-important question asked, “Do you trust me?” She does. She extends her hand and well, you know.
Times like these times help us begin to understand just how difficult it might have been for these two fictitious characters. To not trust meant certain disaster. To trust meant risk. It’s a hard call–well especially in the movie because Aladdin wasn’t some dashing, super strong, super-hero but a, gulp, “street rat,” a nobody, from the wrong side of town.
But what about us–what about our plot–our uncertainty. Well, there is an extended hand and there is that all important question, “Do you trust me?” But that’s where things change. The hand extended to us doesn’t belong to a “street rat” but rather to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. It belongs to the One who speaks and a billion stars begin to twinkle. And the one on the receiving end? Oh, that would be us–the one He calls son, daughter, child of mine.
I love Psalm 37:24. Speaking of God and us, it says, “Though they [that would be us] stumble, they will never fall, for the LORD holds them by the hand.” Never fall, never perish, never. Let that soak in. The word picture is that of a person—perhaps a small child or maybe a frail senior adult—who has lost their footing and consequently is on their way down to certain pain and suffering. Then, at the last minute, the hand reaches down and takes hold, and they are saved.
That has to be what caused the prophet Habakkuk 3:17-18 to say, “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fails and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, 18. yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.”
It’s not a hard call really. I mean He’s all powerful and loves us like no prince has ever loved his princess…cares for us more than any husband his bride. He has a perfect track record. Never fails…no, not once. Regardless of how scary the days were or may become, He is bigger, He is stronger, and He can be trusted. So, listen carefully today. Tune out or turn down the volume of a screeching world and you will probably hear a soft whisper saying, “Do you trust me?” And look with Spirit eyes and you might even see a hand extended. You don’t even need to try and take hold for He’s got you and yes, He’s got this. Bro. Dewayne
Grits with Grace 