The Lord Will Hold Me Close

 

Psalm 27:10(NLT)
“Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close.”

A friend’s daughter, Lexi, has been estranged from her father for years and bumping into him recently was troubling for her. She’s in her twenties now, and since he’s been out of her life, she’s felt a sense of peace and security. He became abusive after she turned sixteen and seeing him unexpectantly opened old wounds that she had tried to put behind her.

Lexi’s father had been very loving and supportive when she was much younger, and she never understood what caused him to change. She felt abandoned when he continued to belittle her, and because of this, sometimes she also felt abandoned by God as well. We don’t always understand why we endure so much pain, especially when we are at our most vulnerable, but God doesn’t cause the circumstances of our pain. Trusting this truth creates a space in our hearts for the love of God to come in. Lexi stopped being angry long enough to seek God’s help and to trust that He would give it.

Nervous, sad, and insecure, initially she was afraid that nothing she tried would work out, but God tells us in 2Corinthians 12:9(NLT), “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” Lexi decided to have faith that God would help her to establish a life on her own. For years she had walked on eggshells, and she never wanted to experience that fear again. As she grew in faith, her self-esteem improved and so did her life. She drew closer to our Heavenly Father, and she continued to pray for healing and for the strength to forgive her biological father. After seven years, she thought she had forgiven him, but when she saw him after all that time, she was confused, and her confidence was shaken.

The reality is that we don’t always know what is going to meet us around the corner. Life is very unpredictable that way. When we’ve gotten to a place of finally feeling secure, and then something happens to seemingly set us back, we might feel tempted to turn away from our faith in God. We don’t understand why things happen the way they do, and this makes us question whether we can ever really feel safe. God promises that we can.

1Peter 5:6-7(NLT) tells us, “6 So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. 7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” We are truly humble when we hold on to our faith in God during those times that are the most challenging for us. He desires us to surrender to Him by giving all our worries and cares to Him, because He cares about every detail of our lives. God has all power in His hands, and there isn’t anything He can’t solve, even when the issue is as complex as old wounds and a heart that’s been broken into pieces.  

God will ‘father us’ through our darkest times. As Psalm 27:10 tells us, when our parents are not prepared to nurture and smother us with love, God will hold us close. When we face situations that open old wounds, He is faithful to bring us through, and we must trust His plan for our lives even when dark clouds loom. Romans 5:8(NLT) declares, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” Our Heavenly Father is loving and kind towards us. He doesn’t hold our mistakes against us. Instead, when we come to Him in faith, He helps us to become strong through Jesus Christ! We can have every confidence that our God loves us way more than we could ever love ourselves. He will hold us close and hold us up as we move beyond our pasts and refuse to be held back by them. ■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

"The Lord Will Hold Me Close”, written by Kim for https://rescuefromdomesticviolence.blogspot.com© 2023. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.