Day 25: Jesus Will Never Let Go of Us

“My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” JOHN 10:27–30, EMPHASIS MINE

ONE OF THE FIRST rules I established when Missy’s adoption was finalized, and I finally got to bring her home was that she had to hold my hand when we were walking anywhere cars were present. This rule applied to parking lots, city sidewalks, or even along some peaceful path in a suburban neighborhood. I was a stickler about enforcing the policy too. Missy grew up in a very rural Haitian village, so she had limited experience with traffic or the fatal damage automobiles can do when they come into contact with flesh and bone. But since my child is a wonderfully feisty and independent leader, she sometimes balked at the holding-mom’s-hand guideline, wanting instead to run ahead of me. So, I called a family meeting between the two of us and employed the use of the word pancake. It’s one of the few English words Missy understood at the time and a term that had quickly become dear to her because, much like her adoptive mama, my kid’s a big fan of carbs!

Once I had her complete attention by getting the pancake mix out of the pantry, stirring the necessary ingredients together, and pouring the first soon-to-be-edible circle on a hot griddle, I said, “Missy, do you want a pancake?” Of course, she nodded enthusiastically and exclaimed, “Oui, manman blan!” (“Yes, white mama” in Creole.)

While she was happily munching her second-favorite breakfast food (sausage biscuits are the love of her life and remain firmly in the coveted number-one position), I explained that the reason I make her hold my hand in the parking lot at Target, on the way to school, and when we’re walking around downtown is because she’s little, so drivers have a harder time seeing her than they do a bigger, taller person like me. Then, much to her surprise, I took another pancake off the griddle and plopped it directly on the table in front of her plate. Then I soberly said, “Honey, if a driver doesn’t see you and runs over you with their car or truck, you’ll be squashed flat just like this pancake.” My sweet baby girl looked stunned for a moment, then sadly mumbled through a mouthful of food, “I don’t wanna be a pancake, Mama.”

I didn’t make up some dogma about hand-holding around cars in an attempt to squeeze all the gleeful-running-ahead-of-mama fun out of my daughter’s day. I did so because I love her more than I knew I had the capacity to love, and I’ll do everything in my power to protect her. Oh how much more Jesus loves us and is concerned about our welfare! Just marinate for a few minutes in our Creator-Redeemer’s protective proclamations, only this time in the easy-to-understand vernacular of The Message paraphrase:

My sheep recognize my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them real and eternal life. They are protected from the Destroyer for good. No one can steal them from out of my hand. The Father who put them under my care is so much greater than the Destroyer and Thief. No one could ever get them away from him. (John 10:27–30a, emphasis mine)

“If anyone attacks you, don’t for a moment suppose that I sent them,And if any should attack, nothing will come of it.I create the blacksmith who fires up his forge and makes a weapon designed to kill.I also create the destroyer— but no weapon that can hurt you has ever been forged.Any accuser who takes you to court will be dismissed as a liar.This is what God’s servants can expect. I’ll see to it that everything works out for the best.”

(Isa. 54:15–17 msg)

No matter where you go, He’s got you. Nothing or no one can snatch you out of His hand. No weapon formed against you will prosper. His commands are always for your good, to protect you, and His guiding hand over your life ensures that you will never, ever end up like a pancake!

• WHAT IS potentially the most dangerous or scary situation in your life right now?
• BESIDES PRAYER, WHAT are some practical ways you can proverbially hold God’s hand in the midst of it?
• WHAT INSTRUCTIONS OF God seem hard for you to obey right now, but if you really thought about it, could actually be ways He is protecting you from harm?