Got you!

When our two-year-old grandson comes for a visit, he approaches our neighborhood park with reckless abandon.  He delights in the adrenaline rush he experiences on the playground equipment.  It appears that there "ain't no mountain high enough."  And falling down just seems part of his fun.  Without a whimper, he jumps up and leaps right back into the thrills and spills of the swings and slides.  Once, after riding his scooter to the park, he didn't want to take off his helmet to play on the equipment.  I gladly relented. Full body armor would not be out of order, if I had it available.

His three-year-old big sister, on the other hand, already appears to possess a graduate degree in Risk Management.  She observes the environment, evaluates the options, and weighs in the fear factor.  Even after she eases herself onto the playground equipment, she has been known to freeze mid-air, paralyzed suddenly when she realizes what she is doing.  "I can't do this!!!" she cries out.  The least effective reply is, "Oh, sure you can,"  leaving her hanging above the abyss of her fear.

The easiest way to rescue her is to just come alongside and calmly reassure her, "I've got you."  On the precipice between fear and courage, that is often all she needs not just to hang on but to carry on.

Whether on the scary places of the neighborhood playground, or the high terrifying tightropes of life, all it takes is knowing God's got you.  His presence makes all the difference in getting to the other side of real-life dilemmas of nightmarish proportions.  As a matter of fact, God specializes in impossible situations.  That is when we realize more of who He is -- God.

And I have come to grasp after all, it is not that I have God,
but He's got me.


Fear not,
for I have redeemed you;
I have called you
                       by name,
   you are Mine.
When you pass through the waters
             I will be with you,
and through the rivers,
       they shall not overwhelm you,
when you walk through fire
       you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the LORD your God,
the Holy One of Israel,
                         your Savior.

                  Isaiah 43. 1-3