Get a Grip

Chicago was hit by a blizzard of historic proportions last week.  And in its wake, the storm left behind literal mountains of snow.  Our village requires residents to shovel their sidewalks, which provided me a maze of icy paths, 16 inches wide with walls on each side thigh-high.  I know now how the Israelites felt in crossing the Red Sea, like traveling through a canyon. But running in these conditions is a lot harder than it looks.  Running in snow replicates trying to gain traction on loose deep sand.  At other times, layers of ice hiding underneath produce a lethal combination.  When I was a little girl back a hundred years ago, people installed chains on their car tires to help them maneuver through the wintry mess.  I now attach to the bottom of my running shoes, a type of tire chains.  They don’t guarantee a slip-free run, but they really help me “get a grip” when the way is icy and treacherous.

On a sunny day when life is wonderful, reading my Bible and praying keep me glued together.  When the way gets a bit harder, I reach out and shout “help” to a few trusted women who don’t ask for details or try to fix my problem, but pray for me.  Also, as I run, I quote Scriptures that I have memorized to plug me into the power of God’s Word. 

And indeed, in the same week Chicago was hit by a blizzard, I was hit by another blizzard of sorts, a difficult situation with strong emotional winds.  I struggled with how to navigate the turmoil.  It was not the first time I have had to face an enormous task that made me want to hide in the closet until the tempest passes.  This was yet another time when the only way that I could face the enormity of the crisis was to trust God through it.  That is the only way to “get a grip.”  Put pride aside and strap on the trust.  As God reminded me this week, “Can you trust Me in this?”  I know I can.  The path may not be obvious to me, but God will guide me through it and keep me from falling.  “Trust Me.”  Those words are the “tire-chains” that keep you going when the way is treacherous and not what you had in mind.  And you may find, as I did last Sunday morning running through three inches of new powder and snowflakes dancing around me, that trusting God brings you to a beautiful place you never knew before.

You gave a wide place for my steps under me,

and my feet did not slip.

                     Psalm 18.36