Falling

During my life I have fallen down stairs, slipped and fell with my first baby in my arms, and took a dive when marching after my disobedient toddlers on the freshly mopped floor. But my recent fall has left me sore, yet grateful.

Didn’t see it coming. It hurt. Nothing quite compares though to the type of falling the Bible instructs us about. Like the first one of Adam and Eve – falling out of perfection. Some falls are memorable.

“At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame” (Genesis 3:7a NLT) Can’t imagine how that first bleak day and deserted night were for God’s breath of life creations.

Then there’s us. We may stumble and fall physically along the way, but eventually we recover and forget. Not so much when we fall into – temptation. That one can take a lifetime to recover from. Guilt, shame, fear – and yet it’s us who take the lifetime, for God stands at the ready to forgive and remove from memory all our shortcomings.

“How far has the LORD taken our sins from us? Farther than the distance from east to west!” (Psalm 103:12 CEV)

Actually, it may be harder to watch our children navigate the falls of life. When they were young, we picked them up and dusted them off. We kissed the ‘boo-boos’. But then released into the world as adults we watch the stumbles and it’s literally like watching someone swoosh over a waterfall – out of our grasp.

But never out of God’s. His hold on us and on all those who know His Son, Jesus, as Savior – that’s a firm grip. We can never fall out of His reach, and He will never fall out of love with us. “Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the LORD holds them by the hand.” (Psalm 37:24 NLT)

As I recover from this latest fall, I can feel the Lord reminding me of so many things. His grace and mercy, His provision and healing, His forgiveness and love. I have a leaf covered picture I hung on the wall for this season of autumn. It says:

“Fall for Jesus, He never leaves you.” Never a truer play on words.