It's all in the Grip

It’s all in the Grip
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.  John 10:28 (ESV)

As the stream of people pressed around us, nudging us one way and then the next, I grasped the tiny hands tighter in mine. Not wanting their sweaty little hands to slip out of mine, my grip lengthened and tightened encasing their entire lower extremities in my hand locking them to me. The last thing I wanted was to lose one of them downstream in the flowing crowd around us.

I don’t know about you but when my boys were little and we were in a crowded place, I didn’t just hold their hands, I held their wrists as well. My momma hands were like vice grips clasping around the one thing I could completely wrap myself around and hold on to as we moved through vast spaces filled with vast numbers of people.

The grasp I had on my boys was for their protection, provision and peace.

I held tightly to protect them. My grip was protecting them from getting lost. If I let go, it would have been easy for one of them to get swept away in the crowd and disappear out of my sight.  Alone and apart from me, they would be vulnerable to all kinds of dangers.  By holding tight, I protected them from the world they weren’t ready to navigate on their own yet.

Next, by holding on to them I provided a way for them to navigate strategically in a world larger than themselves without having to worry about where they were going or how they were going to get there. The only thing they had to do was to hold on to my hand and I would see us safely to our destination.

Lastly, being held tightly by my hand, my boys didn’t have to worry about the situations or people around them. They didn’t have to stress over the throngs of people pressing in around them nudging them in different directions. They didn’t have to think about the dangers of or have to figure out how to cross the street.  They didn’t have to worry about what they were going to eat or how they were going to pay for it. They could be at peace because I was there with them.

John 10: 25-30 paints a similar picture of Jesus holding us tightly in his hand. His hand encloses around us shielding us, protecting us, providing for us. His grip is firm and sure. It is tight and steady. It is not the loose hold of fingertips, but the vice grip of a momma’s hand clasped around the wrist of her child in a crowd. Jesus’ grip keeps us protected from the things that would pull us away from His presence making us vulnerable to the evils of this world. His hand holds us safe.

His powerful, protective grip allows us to be at peace; no matter how large, crowded and unknown the world is around us. We don’t have to worry about the current of circumstances which flows around us. He can see above the fluxes and navigates us safely through the river’s rapids to the calm water of the bay.  
​
Peace and security come when we place our hand in His, trusting Him to not let go, knowing that nothing can get to us that doesn’t pass through His hand first.  
 

---