I will not fall
The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand. Psalm 37:23-24 NLT
It was a beautiful day in Arizona. I had walked this route many times before. Conditions, as they usually are near Phoenix, were sunny, warm, and dry. About halfway through my trek I quickened my pace in response to warm muscles and energized thoughts. A shadow suddenly loomed overhead and swooped out of sight, drawing my focus away from the walkway in front of me. Birds of prey fascinate me, and the shape seemed so large it absolutely had to be an owl, I thought. As my eyes scanned the sky my feet caught on an uneven section of sidewalk and what happened next seemed to unfold in slow motion. I pitched forward precariously and began to stumble, arms flailing, and legs racing to recover and keep upright as I hurtled toward the concrete, my body almost parallel to the ground. Thoughts crashed together as quickly as my legs pumped and my body spun in an effort to recover.
Did I really just trip on a crack in the sidewalk?
This is not going to end well.
I wonder which part of me will hit first.
And it wasn't even an owl!
God, please help me.
"Though they stumble, they will never fall ..."
Nothing quite like this had ever happened to me before. Yes, I have stumbled. And, yes, I have fallen. But this was a long and dramatic stumble that according to natural laws should have resulted in an embarrassing and bloody scene. As I replayed the incident in my mind I counted "one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight" steps before my body miraculously righted itself! Eight fast and furious strides at what felt like breakneck speed with my head dangerously lurching toward the pavement.
"Though they stumble, they will never fall ..."
Once again, God used a concrete (no pun intended) example to bring a spiritual truth to the forefront of my mind. Psalm 37 assures me of 5 things:
Because I am God's daughter, he will direct me.
God knows and delights in the details of my life.
I will stumble.
I will not fall.
The Lord holds my hand.
These five truths were exactly what I needed to be reminded of.
He has not left me rudderless. He knows and understands the details of my life. He knows the joys and the challenges. He sees my questions and knows when I am at a crossroad. And it is there he waits for me to invite him to direct.
I will stumble (we all will!). But I will not fall. I will not be lost, irrevocably damaged, or in any way separated from the love of God or from my eternal destiny. Yes, bad things do happen to good people—as a result of our own actions (or inactions), or because of someone else. But the security I have, as a child of God, is that nothing and no one can change who I am, where I am going, or Who goes with me. God holds my hand. He is trustworthy, and his promises are eternal.
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39 NLT