I sometimes find myself standing before God ‘s throne like I’m at a Chinese fast food stall at a mall’s food court waiting to get served.

Let me explain.

I can approach Bible reading like I’m there to get Hakka noodles and sweet and sour chicken plopped on my plate and say a quick, “Thank You, God,” before hurrying on with my day.

Even during my “quiet” times, my mind sometimes feels rushed, like I need to grab my “lesson for the day” and then move on. I’m determined to grasp the application of what I’m reading as quickly as possible. I even check in with God and ask, “What can I do for You today?” like I’m a salesperson helping Him pick out the perfect Fall sweater.

But the uncreated, self-sustaining, all-powerful God doesn’t need anything from us.

We are the ones who need Him. Desperately. Continually. More than we know.

But when I asked Him the question: “What can I do for You, God?” He surprised me with His gentle answer: “Be held.”

That was it. Be held.

Maybe that’s something you need to hear today, too. Maybe you need to hit pause on that overwhelming to-do list and rest in His presence so you can know that He is holding you.

The other day, a friend mentioned that her daughter, a preteen, was upset about something she was dealing with and couldn’t stop crying. “All I could do was hold her in my arms till her sobbing subsided,” my friend confided.

Sometimes, like an upset teenager, you just need to be held.

He surprised me with His gentle answer:

“Be held.”

Like a child in the arms of her mother, let the Lord hold you, comfort you, soothe you, affirm you, and sing over you.

That sounds amazingly wonderful—but, sometimes, we fight it, don’t we? We don’t want to be that desperately vulnerable—even before our Creator. We don’t want to take our hands off the wheel. We think we can figure it out on our own. We are determined to show the world that we are in control. We resist.

Being held implies a helplessness of sorts, doesn’t it?—and that’s just plain uncomfortable.

But, friend, it’s only when we stop trying so hard in our own strength, when we stop squirming in distractedness, when we stop resisting in pride, when we stop delaying the decision, when we stop denying the truth, that we can truly see God.

It’s when we allow ourselves to be held that we can truly behold.

Be held in His saving grace and behold His sustaining love.

Be held in His provision and behold His sufficiency in every situation.

Be held in His peace and behold His incredible beauty and majesty.

Every other philosophy in the world says, “Do, do, and do some more.”

But our God in His grace says, “It is done.”

Of course, we should try to please Him more and more each day. Yes, we should absolutely walk in obedience to Him. And, without a doubt, we should do the good works He has prepared for us to do. But we do those things from a place of unwavering security because Jesus declared on the Cross, “It is finished.”

We first let ourselves be held, we behold His beauty, and ultimately we become more like Jesus.

The Christian life is not about passivity. It is about dependence on the One who is always enough. We are called to abide in the Vine. We are called to hide in the shadow of His wings and the cleft of the Rock. We are called to live and move and have our being in Him.

Today, may you hit pause so that you can be held, behold—and gradually become who He created you to be.

 

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