In Other Words

"Remember, we all stumble, every one of us.
That's why it's a comfort to go hand in hand."
~ Emily Kimbrough ~

This quote reminded me of a day spent with my sister and her family. We visited Eastnor Castle where, amongst other attractions, they have an assault course. My nephew at 7 1/2 was off and over the obstacles with ease but my almost 4 year old niece found it a bit trickier. She was determined to complete the course but she wasn't going to make it on her own. However if she held on to my hand she could tackle them all; balancing on the beam, crossing the bridge, over the stepping stones, over the climbing nets, ... So all should be well, she'd make it round the course in no time at all. But, of course, its not that simple, she's almost 4, she wants to try out her independence, so although the hand was there to hold, she wanted to try some by herself. All I could do was be there ready to catch her if it went wrong, be prepared to support her if she lost her balance, give her advice on the best way to tackle the obstacle and ultimately to pick her up and put her back on track if she fell.

Thinking about it this seems to be a lot like life, sometimes things are smooth and easy and then we come across an obstacle. If we held on tight to God's hand we would cope with the obstacles, they might still be hard but we'd make it safely to the other side. But we all have a tendency to think we can do it on our own, we take our eyes off Jesus, we let go of God's hand, think we don't need help and that's when we stumble or fall. Thankfully, God doesn't leave us to it, he's there to catch us, guide us back to the right path or pick us back up and put our feet back on the solid ground. Next time I come to an obstacle I'm going to try to remember to keep hold on his hand and go the way he leads, but I can also rest assured that he will be there to help me up when inevitably I lose my way and stumble.