A Light for My Path

A sweet friend gave me a bracelet for my birthday with the inscription from Psalm 46:5, “God is within her, she will not fall.” I wear it every day along with my bracelet inscribed with the fruits of the spirit. Both these verses on my wrist are nearby to comfort and inspire me. I wish I could say that I always live up to the sentiments and commands they bear, but I admit I often fall short.

There are many synonyms for and similar words to “fall”: stumble, misstep, decline, crumple, sink, fail… . I know that I have experienced them all both physically and spiritually.

• I am not a coordinated, graceful girl – I can stumble over the tiniest pebble. I have many times stumbled on my faith walk.
• Similarly, I can misstep even on the straightest, smoothest path. My missteps in relationships are painful to recall.
• We all decline with age and/or neglect of our physical wellbeing. Ditto our spiritual.

You get the idea.

As a grieving parent, it’s easy for me to go down a rabbit hole with this verse. Especially if I take it out of context. My daughter was a faithful Christian. I know she carried the Holy Spirit in her soul, and her heart was known by Jesus. So, where was God when she made a mistake on an under-construction road leading into her employer’s new facility? A mistake that caused her to run head-on into a dump truck. Why didn’t God reach down His hand and push her car or that truck onto the berm? The first verse of that same psalm I quoted above says “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”

I have heard this same question from a myriad bereaved parents. If God is our ever-present help, how could He let this happen?

We pick and choose words out of the Bible and use them in so many incorrect ways. To condemn others. To justify our actions. To question God when bad things occur. Some people even use quotes from the Bible to support why they don’t believe in God.

The Bible never promises that bad things won’t happen in this life. The second verse of this psalm talks about the earth giving way and mountains falling into the sea. Sounds pretty bad, doesn’t it? Like maybe complete destruction. Or on a personal level, the end of life.

God’s promise is not that we won’t misstep, decline, or fall in this life. It’s not that we won’t feel grief. What the whole verse says is “God is within her; she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.” When morning comes. When the world is remade. If we keep God’s spirit in us, we will eventually see everything anew.

So, back to the reminder on my wrist. I could pray to God to give me the grace of a ballerina and the coordination of a tightrope walker so I can walk without stumbling. But I feel like it’s much more important to avoid falling from His graces.

God will help her when morning comes.

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Laura