Hold Close To The Father

I recently participated in a week of Beach Reach in Panama City, a 3-week event where college students and leaders come together to share the love of Jesus through servant evangelism to Spring Breakers.

The students who participated in Beach Reach met Spring Breakers as they climbed into our vans for a FREE late-night lift; as they sat across the table and talked at a FREE pancake breakfast we provided daily; or by simple interactions on the beach and the streets. The Beach Reach ministry is designed to help students build relationships that lead to opportunities to share the love and hope found in Jesus Christ. It was a powerful, exciting, Spirit-driven week. But even for those of us leading the event, it was pretty intimidating at times.

In these weeks, students are often asked to do and experience things they may never have been asked to do before. And they certainly see things that they have never seen before. And despite the fact that I actually spent an entire summer doing ministry in Panama City several years ago, that was the case for me as well at times. The collegiates were experiencing great joy and an awesome empowering from the Holy Spirit. But, they also had times of fear, discomfort, and insecurity. And you know what, so did I.

Even as I drove to Florida, I wrestled with my thoughts and asked God to give me some insight into how to best address this insecurity and fear in our opening service together. I had a central scripture passage in mind and was planning on focusing on that and hoping for some direction from there. Even as I stood there waiting to go on stage, I still was unsure of how to best address these issues.

Then it happened.

Just before I walked out, I asked my wife to send our 18-month old son, Hayden, down the center of the auditorium on my cue. Although introducing my family is a fairly common practice when I speak, using my son (who is completely awesome and yet equally unpredictable) as a living, breathing prop for an illustration is not a commonality. But I felt impressed by the Lord to go with it.

I walked out, introduced myself, and began to discuss the issues of fear and anxiety that I knew were on so many of our minds. Then, I made a brief aside and mentioned Carrie and Hayden. And, perfectly on cue, Hayden in all of his 23 pound, snow-white haired glory came running down the isle to me, his daddy.

He ran as fast as his little legs would move. He jumped into my arms, looked out at the hundreds of students staring at him, and immediately did just what I had expected. I hadn’t only expected it, but I had prayed that he would do it.

Very simply, he placed his head on my shoulder and grabbed a hold of me as tight as he possibly could. His response was perfect. In his time of anxiety, fear, and uncertainty, his natural response was to hold as close as possible to his father.

I taught the passage as planned that night. God spoke through His Word, and everything seemed to flow together. As with many things we teach, though, the parallels may be easy to grasp, but sometimes applying the lessons to our lives is a challenge. When it comes to the hard, scary, and uncertain circumstances of your life, I propose that you model the posture of my son, Hayden. Simply hold close to the Father. Whether in your personal walk or your public ministry, hold close to Him. He provides comfort, rest, and protection. He will never let you go.

¹⁰See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power,
and his arm rules for him.
See, his reward is with him,
and his recompense accompanies him.
¹¹He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart.

Isaiah 40:10-11