A father watched patiently as his little boy tried to leave the safety of railing that was keeping him from falling as he tried his new roller skates. Each time the little boy tried, he began to lose his balance. The father then took his boy by the hand and held him firm as he guided him to the skating rink floor. After a few moments the boy looked up with a big grin and said, "Look Daddy, you're making me stand!"

"The Lord upholds him with His right hand!"

I believe that many of us get down on ourselves when we see how often we fail the Lord. We get downtrodden and lament with the Apostle Paul, "What a Wretched man I am!" (Romans 7:24) and mourn with the Psalmist in 119:5, "Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees," wishing that somehow we were better Christians than we are.

Like the Apostle and the Psalmist, we delight in God's word and want to follow his precepts, but somehow we feel like we always fall short. The comforting news for all of us is that while the scriptures do encourage us and even admonish us to 'Be Holy,' they also teach that God knows we are only human or "dust" (Psalm 103:14), that He does not keep a record of our sin—but forgives us because of what Jesus has done (Psalm 130:3-4, Ephesians 4:31), and that ultimately, we will stand firm because it is the Lord who holds us and keeps us from falling! (Romans 14:4, Psalm 37:23-24)

Have you "stumbled" today? Take heart, The Lord will uphold you with His right hand and He will make sure that you won't fall!

"The LORD makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand."
—Psalm 37:23-24