Holding Hands

At church last Sunday during the closing prayer, I found myself holding hands with a dear friend. A friend who was praying for me and my family. Physically speaking, this friend of mine is great in neither stature nor strength, but as I held her hand that morning, I felt a strength coming through it. I'm not talking about the kind of strength that people try to share. You know, when you're having a hard time and you're praying with a friend and they hold your hand really tightly as if somehow they can transfer strength to you that way. It wasn't like that. It was a strength not her own, a strength she wasn't trying to convey, a strength that flowed from Someone stronger than herself, a strength that poured into me and filled me up and urged me on. I doubt she was even aware of it. But as I sat there, I thought, "If I was hanging off the edge of a cliff (spiritually speaking), this is the hand I want pulling me back up."

Why? Why is that the hand I want pulling me up? Because it's not just a hand. It's a Hand. In my friend dwells the Spirit of the Most High God, so when I hold her hand, I'm holding more than her hand--I'm holding His. And I know His strength!

The Lord has blessed my life so richly: I have many friends about whom this could be said. When they reach out and hold my hand, I get to hold the Hand of God. Whose hand are YOU holding?

"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!"
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

"Yet I am always with You; You hold me by my right hand."
Psalm 73:23