He Took Hold of Me

I just passed my 21st birthday; 21 years of walking with Jesus. He and I went to the local bar to celebrate with a drink, you know, because 21.

Just kidding. I actually spent the night of September 18th worshiping with roughly 300 other lady-folk. My church just hosted our second annual ReVive conference for women. It’s not your typical women’s conference: no pink, no doilies, no crafts. Just Jesus, His Word, and worship.  I love these three things coupled together.

While at the conference I kept reflecting on a verse I stumbled upon not too long ago.

He reached down from on high and took hold of me.

2 Samuel 22:17

I’ve always wanted a life verse. One that communicates a profound truth or what it means for my soul to belong to Jesus. You can imagine my delight when I came across ol’ 2 Samuel 22:17.

You see, I didn’t grow up knowing Jesus. As a young girl I vaguely understood that Christmas was a celebration of His birth and Easter a solemn reminder of His death, but that was about the extent of my knowledge of Him. I could probably count on one hand the number of times I stepped into a church as a child, basically for the occasional wedding. That was it.

I remember hitting a certain age when I started to wonder what happened to a person after they died. I didn’t have a clue. I imagined it to be like floating around in darkness. That frightened me when I pondered it too long. I also remember quite a bit of insecurity about myself through my late elementary and junior high years. Those are such tortuous years already; why not add a heap of insecurity on top just to make it fun?

So, you can imagine my intrigue when I heard about this dude Jesus who promised something much better than darkness, fear, and insecurity. His promises of light, hope, and acceptance drew me to Him and He welcomed this spiritual orphan and adopted me as one of His own.

He reached down from on high and took hold of me. 

No one could have said it better than King David.

He took hold of me. That is exactly what happened. He reached down from His holy place on high and took hold of me in my darkness, fear, and insecurity. Who else does that? No one. That is why the moment I decided to follow Him and belong to Him I knew in my little 15 year old heart there would be no turning back. He took hold of me and I would remain in His grip through the rest of this life and on into the glorious light of eternity.

2 Samuel 22:17 is now mine. I claim it. It is my truth, my battle cry, my worship song, my whisper of comfort in insecurity.

Thank you, Jesus, for taking hold of me.