Though They May Stumble

It’s funny how you can read a scripture and get “stuck” on it.


Like when you feel as if God must’ve written this one just for you and it’s on repeat like a broken record in your mind. This happened to me when I read Psalm 37:24: “Though they may stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.”


Really simple. But the phrase, “though they may stumble” is one I can’t quite shake.

When I first set out to write this blog, I was focusing on the perspective of moms stumbling. How trying and tiring and (quite honestly) bleak some days look. How often I feel (as I’m sure you do) that you must be falling. How one day after another we stumble and God is oh so gracious to hold us up.

I was lying with my big girl one night recently to help her fall asleep and I felt God whisper. “Though she may stumble”. No Lord, I pleaded.  I want her to stay little forever and never have to be exposed to the harshness of the world. To watch her stumble would be such a helpless feeling. It has to be the absolute worst to watch someone we love dearly stumble. We live in a fallen world and the result of that is that ALL of us will stumble.

The wayward son whom you’ve prayed for years, the daughter who is believing what the guys at school say to her over truth, the addicted family member in and out of rehab, the husband who can’t stand up under the pressures of family and work, the toddler who (literally) stumbles everywhere.

Here is the good news: Jesus took the fall so we wouldn’t have to.  “But He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”(Isaiah 53:5)

One translation of Psalm 37:24 states “Even if he trips, he will not fall headlong, for the Lord holds his hand” I love the visual this gives us. I envision a mom holding her wobbly toddler’s hand as he tries to shakily walk along. And while he most likely will trip, she will not let him fall on his face. See, when he starts to fall, she will grip him by the hand even more tightly and keep him upright.

I think God is saying to you, dear friend: that person you love, the one who is stumbling and you feel helpless… don’t lose heart. If they are in Christ, they will not fall headlong. The Almighty One has them by the hand. And though they may stumble, the Lord will uphold them. He is trustworthy and good. We can rest in knowing that it is not our job to keep them from falling.

Our responsibility is to pray and leave the rest in God’s hands. And truly, those are the best hands to be in.

 
Word of the Day:
“Even if he trips, he will not fall headlong, for the Lord holds his hand” Psalm 37:24

Prayer:
Jesus, You say in your word that though we may stumble, we will not fall if we are your children. Many days it feels as if we are falling, but we claim this promise in your name. You will not let us fall on our face. You are the one who upholds us and we are so grateful. Give us grace for today and the wisdom to see loved ones, not as stumbling, but as being held up by your mighty hand. Amen.


Author: Emily Goss

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