God Has Got This

“O bless our God, ye people, and make the voice of his praise to be heard: Which holdeth our soul in life, and suffereth not our feet to be moved.” (Ps 66:8-9 AV)

 

What follows these two verses are afflictions that God asks Israel to endure.  The context is not a life free of trouble.  Rather, the context is a life of trouble that we might grow thereby.  The underlined portion of our verse is so important to commit to memory and rehearse when the afflictions of life seem too hard to bear.  The instruction of praise God is given precisely because God holds us in the palm of His hand.  He does not promise a life free of anxiety.  He does not promise a bed of roses without the thorns.  There are trials of faith.  There are persecutions from without.  There are corrections which He deems necessary.  Life is full of hard times.  Not that God never blesses.  He does so continually.  In fact, as a child of God, the blessings far outnumber the trouble that happens to come our way.  It is nice to know that no matter what the LORD may ask us to endure, He is always there and we are constantly in His watchcare.  He will never leave us nor forsake us.  He abides faithful.  He is always there.

My oldest brother, Paul, went on a high adventure scout camp while he was in high school.  I believe the camp was called Philmont.  While there, he learned how to repel.  He took advanced training as learned how to tie a Swiss seat, learned how the entire system of ropes works, and learned to be a brakeman.  He learned it so well that he was able to instruct other scouts in the basics of repelling.  One particular Saturday, our troop went hiking in the Niagara Falls gorge.  This was below the falls.  We descended at a place called Devil’s hole, or something like that, and hiked towards the falls where we ascended to the Geological Museum on the American side.  There is one particular place that is a bit risky.  The gorge is filled with shale stone which moves rather easily.  This was also one of the best places to find Indian arrowheads if one was so inclined.  After the shale slope, the hiker came to a more rugged cliff face.  It was here my brother set up the ropes and taught his fellow scouts how to repel down the gorge.  The one repelling does have control over his descent. There is a system of carabiners and rope that if threaded correctly, gives the climber control over his speed of descent.  However, one should not descend without a brakeman.  That was my brother.  He had all the scouts watch what he would do if the descent seemed as though it was getting out of control.  Although the climber had complete control of his own descent, if he lost control, the brakeman would control the remainder of the descent.   At no time was the climber in any danger.  We were safe in the hands of the one with the taught rope even though our rope and as much slack as we wished.

What a picture of what our God does for us.  It may seem like our descent is out of control, but it really isn’t.  It may feel like our feet are slipping, but they are not.  It may feel like our life is beyond reclamation, but it is not.  It may feel like what we are facing is too much for even God to handle, but it is not.  The thing about Paul as the brakeman was it didn’t matter how much weight was at the end of the rope.  He could have a three hundred pound adult at the end of that rope and he, barely weighing in over 125, could still stop the free fall weight of someone twice his size.  God is infinite in power.  He has no limited existence.  No matter what life brings, He is always greater.  We may descend.  But if we trust the LORD, it doesn’t have to be a free fall.  We may have to go through hardships or large steps of growth, but it doesn’t have to be an out-of-control experience.  God has this.  It may seem like He doesn’t from time to time.  But He does.  When Paul was serving as the brakeman, he didn’t look over the edge to see how we were doing.  He was out of sight of the climber.  He had to be in order to get the leverage he needed to keep us safe.  We may not be able to discern God’s hand on the rope, but it is there.  We are safe in His hand whether we can detect it or not.  Our souls are safe in this life and our feet will never slip.