He Holds You

I was stopped after church today.

I had this thought in mind of who I was going to/needed to talk to, but evidently God had other ideas.

Let me stop and unpack that. I don't entirely believe God sees our plans and laughs at them, just as Pastor Jim wisely taught earlier this year. God is our Heavenly Father, and just as a good parent wouldn't laugh at a child's earnest intentions, I don't believe He would either. However, I don't believe He won't override them for better ends.

In this case, I never did get a chance to find whom I needed to chat with, but it was okay.

In this case, my cousin Seth stopped me. I'm always glad to see him-one of those guys who never fails to bring a smile to my face.

"Seth! Hey man. What's up?"

In this case, it was simple but still profound. He and I have been praying for one another for various things we've dealt with, and for that, I've been thankful. He was reminding me of that through the twisting journey life has taken me recently, but it was something in particular, the way he put it, that really stuck with me, perhaps on purpose, perhaps unintended.

"Remember: the Lord has you. He holds you, man. He holds your very soul."

It hit me and I lost a bit of focus after that, probably because of the weight of his words.

But the more I think about it, the more I get flattened by that statement. This is the same Lord Almighty who has always been. No beginning or end. He just is.

The same Lord who created it all.

The same Lord who had already seen through all of history.

The same Lord who sent Himself to us, His creation.

The same Lord who has walked among us.

The same Lord who died for us and came back, defeating death out of His love for us.

The same Lord who lives in us and holds our souls.

And the same Lord who still holds the world now.

This same Lord holds my soul. My life.

I don't know what the future even remotely looks like for me, and in some ways, that's a scary thought. It's just plain hard. As I've thought about and written before, trust isn't a thing inherent to us as people.

But as Seth reminded me and it crystalized again today, the Lord God is someone to trust because of who He is.

He is love. He is good. He is our Father in Heaven. He is Lord God.