Possible New Favorite Bible Verse

"When he falls, he will not be thrown down headfirst because the LORD holds on to his hand."
- Psalm 37:24 (GOD's Word Translation) (On righteous men)

There are so many reasons why I love this verse. So many individual parts that when put together make something that's so great.

"When he falls..."

Notice how the verse doesn't say "IF he falls". We will all fall, and that's a fact. There will be times of absolute un-fun-ness.

"...he will not be thrown down headfirst..."

Falling headfirst is one of the most terrifying things. When you fall headfirst, you have nothing to stop you from injuring yourself. I know because I've flipped off of a swing by accident, and though I prevented my face from getting smashed, I dislocated my arm.

Falling feet first, on the other hand, is something completely different. A lesson I distinctly remember from being very young was learning how to absorb the impact of a jump from big fall using my knees. I have fond memories of dropping a good 14 feet from my fort in the back yard. I took all of the shock in my knees, just stood up and walked away. Eventually, however, we had to stop because it started to take a toll on us.

"...because the LORD holds on to his hand."

The LORD of the universe holds on to my hand?

Back to my fort in the back yard. We could have still gone out there and jumped if there had been a rope there. If we had support outside of ourselves we could have jumped. On our own, doing that was going to be impossible after awhile, because I was doing everything without God's help. I can imagine Him there, holding out his hand, just waiting for me to take it on the way down. Each time I did not.

So, this means a lot... why?

I say that out of this verse I have learned three important things:

1 - I will fall

2 - I can absorb that shock with my knees, because I'm not falling headfirst

3 - God is holding my hand throughout this.

No matter what happens, I can hold on to this, and I can hold on to his hand. How mighty and powerful our LORD is! Praise his name!

Some things that I've learned

I've learned some stuff. A lot of stuff actually, quite recently. Ever since I broke up with my girlfriend, my joy has been...wonky, to say the least. I have grown though, and I have here 25 things that I think everyone should remember. Every single thing I either learned in the relationship, or after the relationship. I may be broken now, but I'm on the mend. I may be down for now, but I'm not out. God has a plan for my life.

Anyways, here we go!

1. Don't be afraid to hurt people with gracefully told truth.
2. The health of a friendship outweighs the comfort of the now.
3. You can't judge your life based on your timing, you have to do it based on God's.
4. Nobody is perfect. If you hold someone in high regards, it's only a matter of time before you discover that they are just as imperfect as everyone else.
5. Don't expect much of others. The only one that you can expect everything from is Jesus. All others fail.
6. If you see someone doing what they shouldn't, consider it a prayer request.
7. No matter what the world says, every single person has been beautifully and wonderfully made.
8. If you can't see that, you are not looking hard enough.
9. Do not be afraid to feel.
10. Anger is fine if justified.
11. Don't hold on to that anger, forgive, and move on.
12. Be aware of what your emotions tell you in the heat of a moment - and know that they are biased.
13. Listen to what your heart tells you, then go talk to a mentor, a friend, and another mentor about it.
14. Get all of the facts straight before you argue. An emotional argument is not very convincing.
15. Keep water near you and drink it.
16. Ask yourself, "am I really hungry?" before you eat.
17. A little child will cry for awhile, but will eventually walk away from a broken toy. Be that child with life. Pray for God to fix things, but don't be afraid to make the hard choice.
18. The buck stops with you. On everything.
19. Find your limits of success, and push those every chance you get.
20. Write out a list of strengths and praise God for those.
21. Write out a list of weaknesses and pray to God for help.
22. Remember to consider your trials "pure joy" as Paul did.
23. You are a person of great worth.
24. You are someone that God cares about.
25. You are much more than a label, or past hurt, or circumstance. You are a child of the King. Nothing can change that.

Alright, there you have it. Not the most positive thing that I've written, but I am doing better now that I have been recently. I still feel like almost anything could send me spiraling out of control, but I have a better rein on things now. Still not sure about watching Toy Story 2 again though. ;)