A friend shared something with me that I want to share with you. “I don’t walk with God; I can’t keep up with Him. He walks with me and patiently waits for me when I fall behind.” Looking back on my Christian life I can relate to that statement. New Christians often say that they have found God. That would certainly be nothing to brag about. God is all around us. The truth is, it was God who found me. He called me to become His adopted child through the life, death and resurrection of His true Son, Jesus Christ. As C.S. Lewis so aptly put it; “The Son of God became a man, so that men could become the sons of God.” God placed His Holy Spirit in my heart to show me how to walk the path my heavenly Father chose for me even before I was born. God has been walking with me step by step all of these years. It has been quite a journey.
God’s mercy and grace did not remove my free will turning me into a robot programmed to worship and obey God. There were times in my life when I wandered off on an interesting side trail on my own and suddenly realized I didn’t feel God walking with me. You see, God doesn’t just patiently wait for me to catch up; He also patiently waits for me to return and resume our walk together. The Holy Spirit has always led me back to the spot where I got off track; where my Father is waiting.to continue our walk together. It reminds me of the story I’ve written about before. A mother and her young son were waiting to cross the street. As the light turned green she told the boy to take her hand. He said, “No mommy. You take my hand.” She asked, “What’s the difference?” He replied, “If I take your hand I might let go; but if you take my hand I know you won’t let go of me.” It was when I prayed for God to take my hand and not let go of me that my will and God’s will for me became one. From that time on, I not only have felt the presence and promptings of the Holy Spirit within me; I have known that my Father walks ahead of me to clear my path, beside me to hold tightly to my hand and behind me to cover my back. What a marvelous God we serve!
Today, He still walks every step with me. I couldn’t even make it on my walker the twenty-five feet from my living room chair to my chair at the kitchen table without His strong grip holding me up on my weak, arthritic knees. Our God is greater than words can describe! Even with the physical limitations of age I face, I still say with the Apolstle Paul, “I can do all things through Christ, who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13)
My dear reader, have you asked God to take a tight grip on your hand and walk life’s road with you? If not, why not do it now? I can testify that it is a decision you will never regret.