Oh, that Your hand would be with me!
One day when our(author!) kids were preschoolers, Darlene(author's wife) and I found ourselves with them at a large city park in southern California. It was the kind of park that makes a grown man wish he were a kid again. It had swings, monkey bars, and seesaws, but what most enticing were the slides - not just one slide, but three - from small, to medium, to enormous. David, who was five at that time, took off like a shot for the small slide.
"Why don't you go down with him?" Darlene suggested.
But I had another idea. "Let's wait and see what happens," I said. So we relaxed on a nearby bench and watched. David clambered happily to the top of the smallest slide. He waved over at us with a big smile, then whizzed down.
Without hesitation he moved over to the medium-sized slide. He had climbed halfway up the ladder when he turned and looked at me. I looked away. He pondered his options for a moment, then carefully backed down one step at a time.
"Honey, you ought to go help him out," my wife said
"Not yet," I replied, hoping the twinkle in my eye would reassure her that I wasn't just being careless.
David spent a few minutes at the bottom of the middle slide watching other kids climb up, whiz down, and run around to do it again. Finally his little mind was made up. He could do it. He climbed up... and slide down. Three times,in fact, without even looking at us. Then we watched him turn and head towad the highest slide. Now Darlene was getting anxious. "Bruce, I don't think he should do that by himself. Do you?"
"No," I replied as calmly as possible. "But I don't think he will. Let's see what he does."
When David reached the bottom of the giant slide, he turned and called out "Daddy!" But I glanced away again, pretending I couldn't hear him.
He peered up the ladder. In his young imagination, it must have reached to the clouds. He watched a teenage boy go hurtling down the slide. Then, against all odds, he decided to try. Step-by-Step, hand over hand, he inched up the ladder. He hadn't reached a third of the way when he froze. By this time, the teenager was coming up behind him and yelled at him to get going. But David couldnt. He couldn't go up or down. He had reached the point of certain failure.
I rushed over. "Are you okay ,son?" I asked from the bottom of the ladder.
He looked down at me,shaken but clinging to that ladder with steely determination. And I could tell hehad a question ready.
"Dad,will you come down the slide with me?" he asked. The teenager was losing patience, but I wasn't about to let the moment go.
"Why,son?" I asked, peering up into his little face.
"I can't do it without you,Dad," he said,trembling. "It's too big for me!"
I stretched as high as I could to reach him and lifted him into my arms. Then we climbed that long ladder up to the clouds together. At the top, I put my son between my legs and wrapped my arms around him. Then we went zipping down the slide together, laughing all the way.
Well well, another post.. I couldn't resist, thought I must share it.. haha.. This story is actually telling us that sometimes, God give us tasks that we can't actually handle by ourselves.. it's a frightening and utterly exhilarating truth.. as we are asked to take up a challenge, and that a certain failure is guaranteed.. unless..
unless God steps in.. We have to shout out to him,and definitely pray.. "Father,please do this in me because I can't do it alone! It's too big for me!"..God's hand would then be with you, and you step out in faith and overcome the task..Righto, so when you feel tired, feel that nothing is going right.. feel that your ministry has totally worn you out.. Turn to God.. tell Him you need Him.. His hand would reach out to you, you will be filled with the Holy Spirit.. Greatness of God comes to you just like that.. From cellgroup i learnt that prayer breaks the stubborness of our rebellious flesh.. How true, if you cant handle it, do not keep going in your strength,but pray! This shows that you have turned to God to seek His help.. Prov 3:6 "In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths." Always remember He is on our side!!
