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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