Let Him Lead
By Meg Bucher
“Praise the Lord; praise God our Savior! For each day He carries us in his arms!” - Psalm 68:19 NLT
The scene raced in front me: the lake, trees, and dark blue track faded into the back of my mind as my body illustrated what it felt like to go 90 mph down a hill. I took one deep breath after another, loud and long enough to assure myself I was still conscious until my vision matched my present reality. By the time my whole self was in sync again, the ride was halfway over.
“But mom, please?!?!?!” My daughter begged, “There’s no line!!!”
“I can’t,” I said …defeated, “I don’t like the way that made me feel.”
The psalmist didn’t understand what it was like to ride a roller coaster, but he clearly knew what it felt like to be carried through something he felt helpless to take himself through. Raising teens, to me, feels like blacking out on that roller coaster at times. I find myself asking a lot of questions, often unable to sync reality with what I am seeing or hearing. Savior, in the original Hebrew text it was written in, means “salvation, deliverance, help, rescue from a dangerous circumstance or harmful state by a savior; divine salvation usually has its focus on rescue from earthy enemies, occasionally referring to salvation from guilt, sin, and punishment.” (NIV)
Life can feel akin to being strapped into a rollercoaster going 90MPH, with no way to call for help or stop the ride if something goes wrong. In those moments, we call out to our God, who is faithful to save us. The definition refers not just to physical danger, but guilt, sin and punishment. Before Christ, we were strapped in by sin with no escape from it. When Jesus defeated death on the cross, He saved us from the punishment of sin which is death.
The prophet Isaiah wrote: “Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.” Isaiah 46:4 NLT
Intersecting Faith and Life:
When I got off the roller coaster that day, I was thankful for all of the basics: breathing, seeing, walking, and living. Everyday, God’s mercies are new. Everyday, He yanks us back from the edge. There are times in our lives, we will look back and wonder how we got through the season we just came through. Every one of us can look back and see the tracks of God’s faithfulness in our lives. He is for us, not against us. He created each of us with unique purpose on this earth, to bring glory to His name through His will for our lives. We can trust, when we black out at 90mph, He is still with us. He is never surprised, and always providing what we need in life. Rescue looks different from His perspective. His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. Praise Him for who He is. Our Savior. The One who carries us in His arms.
This season of my family’s lives has been the hardest to date. With the diagnosis of my oldest daughters type 1 diabetes, and the passing of my father-in-law, we have been riding the 90mph roller coaster. There have been many days I don’t know how I get through. Days in which my vision did not line up with reality. In pressing seasons, we often feel we can’t keep up. We are tired, and every resource seems to be depleted beyond explanation. It’s then, God carries us.
To allow God to carry us when we cannot stand, means to live in submission to His authority over our lives. Its obeying His commands and the wisdom in His Word, one right decision and disciplined step at at time. Allowing God to carry us requires us to follow His lead on our lives, even when we know it will end in discomfort and challenges we’d rather not face. He is faithful. He is merciful. And there is power in the name of Jesus.
Further Reading
Additional Resource: NIV Exhaustive Concordance Dictionary. Copyright © 2015 by Zondervan.
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/Vinco Computer / EyeEm
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