Meditation

Read Psalm 46:1-7

The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.—Deuteronomy 31:8 (NIV)

When I was 8 years old, I fell on a broken bottle; the glass cut my knee to the bone. The doctors stitched up my wound and wrapped my leg from my hip to below my knee. Every night my dad had to carry me up the stairs to bed. The first morning when he carried me back down, I looked at the bottom of the stairs and grabbed his neck tightly. Dad said, “I’ve got you.” The fear let go and so did I. I don’t remember the trips up or down for the next six weeks.

Before I accepted Christ into my life, I was living with the same sense of panic I felt that first time my dad carried me down the stairs. I was wounded and figuratively immobile. There seemed no way for me to simply rest—no place to be at peace. But when God called to me, “Do not be afraid,” my sense of relief was profound. I let go, and God has carried me every since.

Prayer: Loving God, thank you for carrying and holding us. When we have fallen, when we are broken, when we can no longer move, you call, “Do not be afraid.” In every situation of our lives help us to rest in you. Amen.

Thought for the day: Through all the ups and downs of my life, God says, “I’ve got you.”

—Steven Scheid, Tennessee