How to Hold Things

   While reading the Psalms this morning, this verse caught my eye: Psalm 119:109

   "I hold my life in my hand continually,"

   I hold my life in my hand. I am holding my life, it is my life and it is in my hand. That is a lot of first person pronouns in that one sentence. When we have free will, that is a true statement, but it is the attitude that this all represents that impresses me right now.

   This sounds like the most important person in this equation is me. I do what I want to with my life, because it is mine. I clutch it tightly, because I do not want to give up the reins of it to anyone or anything else. It sounds a lot like a small child screaming "mine" when someone else wants to get a thing out of his hand.

   I hold tightly onto what I say is mine, perhaps clutching is a better description, holding out a stop sign and saying "mine, don't touch". This can be possessions, family, time, or even my life. "Don't mess with it!"

   But, is it really? I know that my life and times are in God's hands. I cannot add one day to my life that has not been ordained by Him. The circumstances and the things that go on around me are in His providence, not mine. The other people that come into my space and interact with it as I allow, they are not controlled by me, but act on their own, as they are led or respond.

   So, what does it all mean for me for this day?

   The best way is to acknowledge that all is His, including my stuff and my life, and to begin every new day with that thought. If I give the day over to Him, for His purposes and then see what happens, I will at least be in the frame of mind to catch hold of the significance of what is going on around me.

   I will hold onto my life with a light hand, not grasping and clinging, but with a willingness to say, "I really don't control anything, take it, God, and do with it what You want."

   And open my hand.