“If you wander off Jesus will find you, take your hand and walk you back to where you’re supposed to be.” Wally Odum
This simple Facebook post by a friend took an unshakable hold in my brain. My list of things to accomplish that morning cashed around me as my mind swarmed with images this phrase triggered. I get it…I have been the hand holder as well as the one needing my hand held.
When my daughter was just a towheaded toddler we once watched as she wandered ahead of us at a mall. Off on her own adventure, she seemed to have forgotten we were there. We decided to see how far she would go before she realized she was not with us…so we stealthily followed her on her journey. SHE NEVER STOPPED. She never knew she was even a little bit lost. There was no panic filled moment of “where are my parents?” or even “where am I”? Eventually, we did not have all day, we took her by the hand and walked her back to where she was supposed to be.
How often is this me? Toddling along in life, often unaware that I have wandered away from the One who loves me most. Life is filled with so many distractions, so many choices, it is disturbingly easy to get caught up in the “going” and forget about God, the ordainer of our days, maker of our path, and planner of our steps. His plans for me are good…but my nature, our nature, is to wander. How marvelous a reminder that God waits to take hold of our hand.
We would never have said, “Oh well, she is not paying attention and staying close to us, let’s just let her go and we leave.” If we’d had hours to spare, and had kept following her, I have no doubt eventually she would have noticed there was a problem. I wondered what it would have taken. Would she notice she was alone? Would she get tired? Would she get hungry? Would she get hurt?
When do we stop and seek God’s hand, what does it take? To be honest, although my little girl is now in her thirties, I still feel as if I am following her as she journeys though life…my hand outstretched.
Today is a good day to pause our wandering. “Lord, here I am. Take my hand and lead me where I am supposed to be.”
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future, then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with your heart.” Jerimiah 29:11-13
Tuesday With Teri 