I’m not very good at balancing; I was 18 before I learned to ride a bike! I watch my grandchildren clamber, climb and balance on narrow beams with a sense of wonder, because I know I find such things immensely difficult.
Balance in life is equally difficult. It often feels like life is a rollercoaster. In Ps 107, the psalmist likens it to a storm-tossed sea: ‘They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted away.’ (Ps 107:26) We experience great joys and great sorrows; we can feel that there is very little stability in life and consequently live with emotions that are ‘up and down’ on an almost daily basis.
But God is the stabilising factor in life. Just as a child learns to ride a bike often by starting with additional stabilising wheels, so we find the love, faithfulness and presence of God with us gives us the stability we need to ‘ride the waves‘ of the storms. As Rend Collective put it, ‘Your love will keep me stable.’ (‘True In The Light’) As Garry puts it in his ‘Yo-yo’ children’s song, ‘Jesus gives stability.’
Therefore we have hope.
