The worship leader
invited us to raise our hands in praise as we joined voices to honor Almighty
God. I have to confess that, at times, I am tentative about this kind of
instruction coming from the stage because I think one’s worship posture ought
to be more spontaneous and personal. But he followed his initial appeal with
these words: 'like a small child raising his hands for his father to pick him
up and hold him.'
Pictures of many of the children I've seen in this posture
ran through my mind, and my heart smiled. They’re so trusting and expectant as
they hold up their hands and say, “Hold me, Daddy, hold me!” In that moment, I
wanted to express that affection, so I threw my hands in the air with abandon
along with so many others.
A while back, Rich Mullins wrote the words:
Sometimes my life just
don’t make sense at all
When the mountains
seems so big, and my faith just seems so small.
So, hold me, Jesus,
I’m shaking like a leaf.
You have been King of
my glory; won’t you be my Prince of Peace?
The start of a new semester holds a kind of scary
anticipation (for those who have taken Total
Wellness and the Minister, this is eustress
and distress at its finest!). We
can’t wait to see what’s in store but, then again, we’re a bit nervous about
what might be in store. We love the fun surprises but hold our collective
breath through the difficult challenges.
Be proactive. Go
ahead and invite your Heavenly Father to hold you through this semester …
through the good grades and the hard assignments
… through the relationship highs and
the late-night lows. Remember the Apostle Paul’s invitation to worry about
nothing but, instead, to give it all to God with thanksgiving. And then, get
ready, because according to Philippians 4:7, “the peace of God, which
transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ
Jesus.”
