His hand reaches out to you

His hand reaches out to you - an invitation
His hand reaches out to you. It says, ‘Come’.
‘Come with me.
Come, dance with me.
Come, walk with me.
Come, run with me.
Come, just BE with me.
Come, you might not know exactly the road that we will take BUT we will travel it together‘.

His hand reaches out to you -
An offer of hope,
An answer to your loneliness,
A stronghold as everything around you shakes.
What else can we put our trust in?
What else will remain?

His hand reaches out to you -
An outstretched arm
A risk, of love.
A request, not a command.

His hand reaches out to you -
BUT
You did not see it.
Your gaze was focussing elsewhere.
You were blind to that hand, whilst seeing all other temptations and distractions that draw your attention away from seeking, seeking, seeking
The ONLY was that leads to life.

His hand reaches out to you -
And you saw it and you heart was moved for a moment in hopeful anticipation.
BUT you did not respond.
You did not move.
For your hands were busy elsewhere.
Busy worrying and striving and organising and meeting
and trying and trying to achieve and trying and trying to be successful
And trying and trying to look good and follow the rules and be a ‘proper christian’ and impress and…

Your hands were busy elsewhere -
Carrying burdens you were never meant to carry
Wringing themselves in anxiety
Holding your head in despain.

His hand reaches out to you
But to take it seems too hard
Or perhaps, it seems too easy.
Is that really all he requires at this moment?
Is that really enough?
To lay everything down
To surrender worries and plans and strategies
And to reach out your hand in response.
To let Him gently pull you up from the ground where you sit - proud. lonely. afraid.
To let Him lead you out from the dark edges into the light to dance dance dance with Him.
To let Him pull you into an embrace.
To let Him hold you.
To let Him guide you into new spaces of freedom where you can truly be yourself.
To walk beside Him in harmony, enjoying one another’s company.
To run with Him into an adventure you had hardly dared to dream about.

His hand reaches out to you - an invitation
His hand reaches out to you with longing and with love
His hand reaches out to you -

Will you take it?

(I wrote this for the New Life Assemblies of God church in Chennai where we were worshipping this weekend)