Our family recently hiked up Mount Pilchuck, outside of Granite Falls. It is about a 6 mile hike that climbs roughly 2500 feet to an old fire lookout tower. We had an awesome day!
Our granddaughter who is 5 and our grandson who is 1½ went on the hike with us. For a portion of the hike, I carried our granddaughter. Most of the hike she wanted to walk and did great.
There were some patches of the hike that were difficult. If I wasn’t carrying her, I held her hand so as to help her through the difficult patch. The majority of the time she was OK with me holding her hand. There were moments though where she pulled away because she wanted to do it ‘myself.’ A couple of those times the ‘myself’ ended up tripping or falling. A few times when she was ‘myselfing’ it, I reached out and grabbed her as she started to go down. After tripping or falling she was amenable to me helping her.
This interaction through a 6 mile hike painted a picture for me of how we often are with God. God is trying to get us to hold His hand so that we can make it through a rough patch. He wants to help us and assure us that we can make it through the difficult seasons in life.
But we tend to pull away and let God know through our actions and attitudes that “I want to do it myself!” He doesn’t force us to hold His hand. He doesn’t force Himself upon us when we don’t want it – mostly.
As I look back, there have been times where I was ‘myselfing’ it and sure enough, just as I was on my way down, God reached out and grabbed me. Sometimes I still stumbled or fell but the stumble, or even the fall, was not nearly what it could have been if God hadn’t been there watching over me.
Praying is partially about admitting to God, others and ourselves that we need Him to hold our hand. We are going through a challenge and we can’t make it alone.
Are you in a tough patch right now? Don’t get caught ‘myselfing’ it! God is waiting for an invitation to engage with you and change you.
Matt
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