Whose Shoulders Are You On?

My three-year-old daughter startled people all throughout Germany with a little trick she loved. We were on an adventure to meet extended family and did more walking than her little legs could handle. She therefore spent many sightseeing hours perched atop her daddy’s shoulders, his hands around her ankles.

Castles and mountain views bored her quickly. She didn’t complain or whine, but every now and then I would hear a gasp and see an onlooker jump. The cause? Our darling little freckle-faced sprite had, without warning or caution, flung her body backwards from her daddy’s shoulders. She hung there, upside down like a devilish monkey, giggling at the people who thought she was falling to her death.

She did this over and over. We got used to hearing a soft grunt from my husband as we were walking and the startled gasps of the people around us. Walking a mountain road…grunt, gasp, giggle. Walking up a castle’s spiral staircase…grunt, gasp, giggle. At the town fair…grunt, gasp, giggle. Touring the dark salt mines…grunt, gasp, giggle. We tried to explain to her that she was scaring people around her, but the adrenaline rush of the fall and the hilarity of people’s responses proved too much for our spicy redhead to resist.

She wasn’t even a little bit afraid. She didn’t weigh the risks or imagine worst-case scenarios in her pigtailed head before she took the first dive. She felt her daddy’s shoulders under her and his hands resting on her ankles and that was all she needed. She knew her daddy. She knew the strength of his arms. She was confident in his constant vigilance. Her mind didn’t even consider the potential dangers and “what ifs.” Her bravery didn’t require anything more than his presence.

That trust was beautiful to see. It’s the same kind of beauty I see as my girlfriend readies her five daughters for a missionary move across the world. It’s the beauty I see as my sister rearranges her home in order to receive two foster sons still in diapers. It’s the beauty I see as freedom replaces fear when a teen girl steps onto a plane for a sixteen-hour flight with her missions team. This is the girl who has endured eight ear surgeries and whose doctors couldn’t predict how her ears might handle flying. She tests them out on a sixteen-hour flight. It’s a beauty that looks strong and acts courageously.

The phrase be strong and courageous is repeated many times throughout the Bible (see Deuteronomy 31, Joshua 1 and 10, 1 Chronicles 22 and 28, and 2 Chronicles 32). It has great appeal because we so desperately don’t want to be weak and fearful, no matter how we feel deep down. The problem? Many of us repeat this phrase as a wish, a talisman that we hope will bring us feelings of strength and courage. In contrast, God’s Word always presents it as a command, something to do.

Being strong and courageous is within our power. Every. Single. Time. It must be, or it would have been whispered over Joshua like a toast to his future success rather than a command. The secret is in what follows the command. Nine times out of ten, it’s this: because the Lord your God is with you. It’s all about whose shoulders you’re on. There isn’t a circumstance or a challenge that can trump the Lord your God being with you. What can you possibly fear? Who can touch you? What is left for you to do but go where those shoulders carry you, so confident in your safety that you can do crazy things that make other people gasp. God is with you!

[Tweet “It’s illogical to be anything but strong and courageous.”]

It’s a beautiful thing to watch people ride off into the sunset, free from fear and reveling in the secure place they have on their Father’s shoulders. It doesn’t bother them at all that they are small and weak because He is strong and powerful. They aren’t much concerned about which path He is taking because they know He only chooses ones that are good for them. They are brave.

Is this the kind of ride you’ve been dreaming about? Maybe it’s time for you to climb up.

Lori Florida’s life is all about her people. She’s convinced that being Mrs. to one and Mommy to eight will be her most significant way to serve Jesus.  She wants to use her life to cheer on and coach the women coming behind her. Lori blogs at loriflorida.com.

Photograph used with permission from, and copyright of, Lori Florida.