Monday, January 28, 2013

HURLED HEADLONG!


HURLED HEADLONG!
            Friday morning the forecast of a widespread ice storm in our area was not fulfilled.  This despite the fact that almost every school in the area had already announced closures (though not the school I teach at!).  So I headed out for school, going in a little bit late.  But I never got to school!  In fact, I never got to my car.  A few tentative steps out onto the walkway which leads to the street, I hit glaze ice; perhaps I should say “black ice,” for I never saw it.  Instantly I went straight over backwards, hitting my head and landing flat on my back.  No, I am not seriously hurt—headache for a day and increasingly sore muscles, but I am moving a bit slowly. 
            There’s a lesson in this experience.  One of my favorite chapters is Psalm 37.  That’s the one with the verses about trusting in the Lord and delighting yourself in the Lord and resting in the Lord—all great verses and sources of much comfort.  But perhaps my favorite verses from the chapter are verses 23 and 24, and those are the verses I thought about in connection with my fall.
            The steps of a man are established by the Lord, and He delights in his way.  When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, because the Lord is the One who holds his hand.
            You see, the picture in my mind when I read these verses is of a little girl holding onto her father’s hand.  They are walking on a slippery path and the girl’s feet slip out from under her.  She is dangling, but not down, because her father holds her hand.  He stops and helps her to get her feet back under her.  She doesn’t go all the way down.  She has not been hurled headlong.
            I am walking on a slippery path spiritually.  There are all kinds of things which can cause me to fall.  The verse says “when he falls,” not “if he falls.”  I will fall, but I won’t be hurled headlong, I won’t go all the way down, because my hand is enfolded in the Lord’s hand.  He is helping me get my feet back under me.  He is helping me stand. 
                                                                        ~~Faith Himes Lamb

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