God Who Holds
"He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart." (Isaiah 40:11 NIV)
Ecclesiastes' seasonal Scriptures make several mentions of getting things and of holding onto them.
There is a time to search. There is a time to gather. There is a time to embrace. There is a time to keep.
We search for God: "You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13 CSB).
We gather stones of remembrance to remind us of God's past faithfulness, which feeds our present thankfulness: "Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, 'Thus far has the LORD helped us'" (1 Samuel 7:12 NIV).
We embrace wisdom: "The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. Cherish her, and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honor you" (Proverbs 4:7,8 NIV).
We keep wise teachings close to our heart and at the ready on our lips: "Pay attention and listen to the sayings of the wise; apply your heart to what I teach, for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart and have all of them ready on your lips, so that your trust may be in the LORD" (Proverbs 22:17-19a NIV).
And while we take hold of what we have sought, gathered, embraced, and kept, we remember that before we hold onto anything, we are first and foremost...held.
"The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded...He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me" (Psalm 18:13,16,17a NIV).
"Faith is not merely you holding on to God—it is God holding on to you" (E. Stanely Jones).
"Hold me now
In the hands that created the heavens.
Find me now
Where the grace runs as deep as Your scars.
You pulled me from the clay,
You set me on a rock,
Called me by Your Name,
And made my heart whole again.
Hold my heart
Now and forever,
My soul cries out.
"Hold me now
In the hands that created the heavens.
Find me now
Where the grace runs as deep as Your scars.
You pulled me from the clay,
You set me on a rock,
Called me by Your Name,
And made my heart whole again.
Hold my heart
Now and forever,
My soul cries out.
Once I was broken,
But You loved my whole heart through.
Sin has no hold on me
‘Cause Your grace holds me now."
(From "Whole Heart (Hold Me Now);" Hillsong UNITED; Songwriters Joel Houston, Aodhan King; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRUM70CPYls.)
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I'd love to hear from you! Feel free to tell me what you really think. Years ago, I explained to my then-two-year-old that my appointment with a counselor was "sort of like going to a doctor who will help me be a better mommy." Without blinking, she replied, "You'd better go every day." All of which is just to say I've spent some time in the school of brutal honesty!