The story is told of a father who was walking with his toddler son on an icy sidewalk in the middle of winter.
“Son,” the father said, “would you like me to hold your hand, so you don’t fall?”
“No, daddy,” the boy said confidently, “I can do it on my own.”
Seconds later, the boy slipped and fell.
Standing him back up, the father asked him again, “Are you sure you don’t want me to hold your hand?”
Determined, the boy said, “No, daddy. I’ll hold your hand.” The boy reached up and grabbed his father’s hand. But because his hands were so small, he couldn’t grip his father’s big hand very well and soon found himself once again lying on the cold cement.
Humbled, the boy finally relented.
“Daddy, will you take my hand?”
The father smiled and wrapped his big, strong hand around his son’s tiny toddler hand. Though the boy’s feet still slipped and slid on the ice, he never fell again. His father’s big, strong hand held him up.
Toddlers can be stubborn.
So can I. Though, as a pastor, I encourage others to constantly remember how much need God – how, on their own, they will slip and fall – I often fail to do so myself.
“I can do this,” I think. So, I try to deal with the stress of my life without taking it to God in prayer. I try to fix the problems in my marriage without daily devotional time with my heavenly Father. I foolishly face temptations alone.
And then I wonder why I slip, why I struggle, why I fall.
But then, like a tiny toddler, I think the solution is that I need to hold on to God tighter. In other words, I just need to have more faith. I just need to be more godly. I just need to be the Christian pastor and husband and father that God wants me to be.
The problem is that, in my pride, I think it’s still on me. I need to be strong. I need to be good. I need to figure it out.
And I once again find myself slipping and sliding all over the sidewalk.
The solution is to let go and let God. The solution is to honestly admit that I can’t do any of this on my own. The solution is to humbly turn to my heavenly Father and say, “Daddy, please take my hand.”
Stop stubbornly trying to do this on your own. You can’t. Life is too hard. The devil is too cunning. Your hands and feet are too wobbly and weak.
Talk to God every day in prayer. Go to church regularly. Read your Bible or a good devotional book every day. Find in your heavenly Father the strength and help you need.
Trust that his powerful hand will never let you go.
“The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand” (Psalm 37:23,24).
Pastor Andrew Schroer has been a pastor for over 25 years and is currently serving at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Edna, Texas. You can find his latest books, “364 Days of Thanksgiving” and “364 Days of Devotion,” on Amazon.com.
