God’s unfailing care on a hike

Last year I joined my son and daughter and my daughter’s family on a hiking trip in South Dakota and Wyoming. Halfway through one hike, I lost my footing on a very steep slope. I heard my daughter loudly say, “No!” She knew that God created His children incapable of falling, and she was claiming my freedom from any accident. 

What came to me right then was something my granddaughter told me many years ago: “Grammy, don’t worry if you fall through God’s arms—you’ll end up in His lap.” I had to smile at this, and my downward plunge stopped immediately. I could not move or speak for a short while. My son and grandson were able to get down to me and brace my feet. Then, with my son-in-law giving guidance from a few feet above, I was able to push myself upward a few inches at a time, stabilize, and continue until I reached the path and was able to get up and finish the hike.

That evening my daughter asked if I realized how steep the descent had been and that there had been no apparent reason for my fall to stop. I had only vaguely realized that. One hand had been injured and needed healing, so she continued to help me through prayer, knowing that man, God’s image, is not, and cannot be, subject to injury.